Taichung Veterans General Hospital Doctors and 5 Manufacturers Indicted for Allowing Medical Equipment Vendors to Perform Surgeries for Profit Sharing
Two senior surgeons at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, along with three medical equipment vendors, have been indicted for allegedly allowing unqualified vendor personnel to perform core surgical procedures and sharing profits, defrauding national health insurance.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 13, 2026 at 10:50
- 🔍 Collected: May 13, 2026 at 11:01 (11 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 14, 2026 at 05:01 (17h 59m after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Su Mu-chun, Taichung, 13th) Yang Meng-yin, Director of Neurosurgery for Brain Tumors, and Cheng Wen-yu, Director of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, were accused of allowing medical equipment vendor personnel, who are not qualified physicians, to perform surgeries. Prosecutors found that the two doctors also received profit-sharing, and five individuals, including the doctors and manufacturers, were indicted the day before yesterday.
Today, the Taiwan Taichung District Prosecutors Office issued a press release stating that in January this year, prosecutors received an accusation from the Taichung City Health Bureau alleging that neurosurgical operations at Taichung Veterans General Hospital might involve medical equipment suppliers, who are not qualified physicians, illegally performing medical services. Prosecutors immediately assigned a prosecutor to direct the Central Region Mobile Operations Group of the Investigation Bureau to form a special task force to launch an investigation.
The special task force used mobile evidence collection, retrieved mobile phone call records, reviewed multiple surgical video recordings, and compared hospital surgery schedules, National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data, and patient medical records to clarify the criminal plot and methods one by one.
Prosecutors found that Yang Meng-yin, Director of Neurosurgery for Brain Tumors, and Cheng Wen-yu, Director of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, at Taichung Veterans General Hospital's Neuroscience Center, during spinal endoscopy and fusion surgeries, instructed three medical equipment vendor personnel, surnamed Chen and Lin, who are not qualified physicians, to enter the operating room and illegally perform core medical actions such as electrocautery hemostasis, grasping patient tissue, inserting screws, and assembling connecting rods.
The five defendants, including Mr. Yang, knowing that the relevant surgeries were actually performed by unqualified personnel, could not legally apply for NHI payments. They jointly concealed the fact of "vendor-performed surgery" and utilized unwitting hospital staff to claim diagnostic fees and surgical fees from the National Health Insurance Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Furthermore, the defendants did not truthfully inform patients that unqualified vendor personnel performed core medical procedures during the surgery, leading patients to pay high out-of-pocket medical material and surgical fees. After investigation, the total illicit gains of the five defendants amounted to over NT$1.96 million.
Prosecutors also found that to ensure profit from medical material sales, the medical equipment manufacturers had three vendor personnel, including Mr. Chen, perform surgical labor on behalf of doctors. The relevant companies then allocated a certain proportion of funds based on the medical material sales amount as "public relations fees" to the defendant doctors, forming an illegal model of "doctors named, vendors operating, private profit-sharing."
After investigation by the Taichung District Prosecutors Office, the five individuals, including Dr. Yang, were indicted on the 11th on charges of violating the Medical Practitioners Act and fraud under the Criminal Code.
The prosecutors considered that defendants Yang and Cheng, as senior doctors at a medical center, disregarded patient life and physical safety, entrusting highly professional and irreversible core medical procedures to medical equipment vendor personnel who are not qualified physicians, severely trampling on medical dignity and patient rights. Among them, defendant Yang had a record of fraud during his medical practice, which resulted in a deferred prosecution. Therefore, the court is requested to impose heavy sentences on the two doctors.
In addition, prosecutors considered that the three medical equipment personnel returned all illicit gains exceeding NT$330,000 and were willing to confess all their crimes after the incident, requesting the court to impose appropriate sentences. The prosecutor appeals that medical surgeries are highly professional, risky, and irreversible, concerning public life safety and health rights. Non-physicians are absolutely prohibited from performing core medical procedures. Doctors should not, for convenience, profit, or to cooperate with manufacturers' sales, allow unqualified personnel to intervene in surgeries, thereby undermining medical professionalism and patient trust. Prosecutors will actively investigate and rigorously prosecute. (Editor: Li Heng-shan) 1150513
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(Central News Agency reporter Su Mu-chun, Taichung, 13th) Yang Meng-yin, Director of Neurosurgery for Brain Tumors, and Cheng Wen-yu, Director of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, at Taichung Veterans General Hospital, were accused of allowing medical equipment vendor personnel, who are not qualified physicians, to perform surgeries. Prosecutors found that the two doctors also received profit-sharing, and five individuals, including the doctors and manufacturers, were indicted the day before yesterday.
Today, the Taiwan Taichung District Prosecutors Office issued a press release stating that in January this year, prosecutors received an accusation from the Taichung City Health Bureau alleging that neurosurgical operations at Taichung Veterans General Hospital might involve medical equipment suppliers, who are not qualified physicians, illegally performing medical services. Prosecutors immediately assigned a prosecutor to direct the Central Region Mobile Operations Group of the Investigation Bureau to form a special task force to launch an investigation.
The special task force used mobile evidence collection, retrieved mobile phone call records, reviewed multiple surgical video recordings, and compared hospital surgery schedules, National Health Insurance (NHI) claims data, and patient medical records to clarify the criminal plot and methods one by one.
Prosecutors found that Yang Meng-yin, Director of Neurosurgery for Brain Tumors, and Cheng Wen-yu, Director of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery, at Taichung Veterans General Hospital's Neuroscience Center, during spinal endoscopy and fusion surgeries, instructed three medical equipment vendor personnel, surnamed Chen and Lin, who are not qualified physicians, to enter the operating room and illegally perform core medical actions such as electrocautery hemostasis, grasping patient tissue, inserting screws, and assembling connecting rods.
The five defendants, including Mr. Yang, knowing that the relevant surgeries were actually performed by unqualified personnel, could not legally apply for NHI payments. They jointly concealed the fact of "vendor-performed surgery" and utilized unwitting hospital staff to claim diagnostic fees and surgical fees from the National Health Insurance Administration of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Furthermore, the defendants did not truthfully inform patients that unqualified vendor personnel performed core medical procedures during the surgery, leading patients to pay high out-of-pocket medical material and surgical fees. After investigation, the total illicit gains of the five defendants amounted to over NT$1.96 million.
Prosecutors also found that to ensure profit from medical material sales, the medical equipment manufacturers had three vendor personnel, including Mr. Chen, perform surgical labor on behalf of doctors. The relevant companies then allocated a certain proportion of funds based on the medical material sales amount as "public relations fees" to the defendant doctors, forming an illegal model of "doctors named, vendors operating, private profit-sharing."
After investigation by the Taichung District Prosecutors Office, the five individuals, including Dr. Yang, were indicted on the 11th on charges of violating the Medical Practitioners Act and fraud under the Criminal Code.
The prosecutors considered that defendants Yang and Cheng, as senior doctors at a medical center, disregarded patient life and physical safety, entrusting highly professional and irreversible core medical procedures to medical equipment vendor personnel who are not qualified physicians, severely trampling on medical dignity and patient rights. Among them, defendant Yang had a record of fraud during his medical practice, which resulted in a deferred prosecution. Therefore, the court is requested to impose heavy sentences on the two doctors.
In addition, prosecutors considered that the three medical equipment personnel returned all illicit gains exceeding NT$330,000 and were willing to confess all their crimes after the incident, requesting the court to impose appropriate sentences. The prosecutor appeals that medical surgeries are highly professional, risky, and irreversible, concerning public life safety and health rights. Non-physicians are absolutely prohibited from performing core medical procedures. Doctors should not, for convenience, profit, or to cooperate with manufacturers' sales, allow unqualified personnel to intervene in surgeries, thereby undermining medical professionalism and patient trust. Prosecutors will actively investigate and rigorously prosecute. (Editor: Li Heng-shan) 1150513
Choose to stand with facts, every sponsorship you make is a force to protect press freedom.
Download the Central News Agency's "Firsthand News" APP to stay updated with the latest news.
Text, images, and videos on this website may not be reproduced, publicly broadcast, publicly transmitted, or utilized without authorization.