Patients given organs from HIV carrier

Organ transplant operations at a renowned hospital in Taiwan could be suspended after a medical blunder last week that resulted in five patients receiving organs from an HIV-positive donor.

Dr Shih Chung-liang, director general of the Department of Health's Bureau of Medical Affairs, said a preliminary investigation showed internal negligence by the National Taiwan University Hospital was to blame for the massive mistake, according to a report in the island's United Evening News yesterday.

The organ transplant team at the centre of the worst medical scandal in the hospital's history could face suspension and be subject to fines ranging from NT$50,000 (HK$13,400) to NT$500,000, Shih said.

The hospital could also face claims for huge payouts to the victims and their families.

Shih Wen-yi, deputy director of the Centres for Disease Control, was quoted yesterday in the same report as placing the blame for the mistake on the hospital, saying: 'Any hospital should conduct a test for the HIV virus before carrying out any operations with blood transfusions or organ transplantations.'

Nobody realised the mistake had been made until the laboratory's blood test report reached the hospital's surgical department on Wednesday, shortly after the transplants were performed that day. The report confirmed that the 37-year-old donor, who died that day, was an HIV carrier.

His liver, a lung and both kidneys were given to four patients at the hospital, while his heart went to a patient at National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.