According to the Central News Agency, Taiwan’s Control Yuan member Tien Chiu-chin stated on May 17 that a Taiwanese physician surnamed Chen has been sentenced for allegedly brokering patients to China for organ transplants and profiting from the activity.
The news prompted concerns over possible ethical violations by medical professionals involved in organ transplantation brokerage.
Physician allegedly brokered organ transplants to China, Control Yuan launches investigation
The physician surnamed Chen was prosecuted by the Changhua District Prosecutors Office under Taiwan’s Human Organ Transplant Act for allegedly brokering nine patients to China for liver and kidney transplants while profiting from the arrangements.
He was reportedly sentenced in the first trial to two years in prison with a five-year suspended sentence and fined NT$5 million, according to a Taipei Times report. The appellate court upheld the original ruling in the second trial.
Tien Chiu-chin said in a press release that while the physician was working at Changhua Christian Hospital, he allegedly repeatedly facilitated patients’ paid organ transplants in China and provided surgical guidance, potentially violating Taiwan’s Human Organ Transplantation Regulations.
Success
You are now signed up for our newsletter
Success
Check your email to complete sign up
She added that the case has raised public concerns about some physicians acting as intermediaries for organ transplantation in violation of medical ethics. After months of inquiries to relevant authorities, she has formally initiated an investigation.
Control Yuan member Tien Chiu-chin stated that the World Medical Association’s “Statement on Human Organ and Tissue Transplantation” and the “Istanbul Declaration,” along with other international standards, firmly oppose organ transplant tourism and human rights abuses such as forced organ harvesting.
She emphasized that organ transplantation is directly related to patients’ right to life and the fundamental human rights of organ donors. Because physicians carry a high level of social trust and ethical responsibility, any serious violation of medical ethics would have significant negative implications for the medical community’s reputation and for human rights values.
Tien Chiu-chin further stressed that it is necessary to examine whether Taiwan’s mechanism for tracking citizens who travel abroad for organ transplants is sufficiently robust, whether existing regulations have gaps or require improvement, and whether the relevant authorities have properly conducted administrative investigations into the physician’s conduct as ruled by the court.
Alleged profit of hundreds of thousands per patient
According to a report by Sanlih News, the physician surnamed Chen, while working at Changhua Christian Hospital, allegedly collaborated with nurses, pharmaceutical representatives, and a biotechnology company owner to illegally broker nine Taiwanese patients to China for liver and kidney transplants.
He is alleged to have charged each patient between NT$3 million and NT$7.5 million, profiting from the arrangements.
Investigators reportedly found that during his tenure at Changhua Christian Hospital, Chen served as the lead physician in a liver transplant team. He later became acquainted with a biotechnology company director surnamed Huang and Huang’s wife, as well as a medical broker involved in cross-strait organ transplant services named Lin, and a Taiwanese businessman surnamed Hong who had undergone stomach surgery at the hospital.
The physician Chen developed contact through medical exchanges with the organ transplantation center director of Xiangya Third Hospital of Central South University. Beginning in 2008, the group reportedly started sending patients to China for liver transplant surgeries, during which one patient allegedly died after the operation.
In 2016, Chen is said to have again collaborated with a medical broker surnamed Lin to arrange liver transplant procedures in China, which reportedly failed and resulted in the patient’s immediate death.
Investigations found that during consultations, Chen allegedly told patients they could negotiate “organ donor fees” with a biotechnology company owner surnamed Huang to undergo transplant surgery in China. The reported costs were approximately NT$5–7.5 million for liver or lung transplants, and NT$3–3.5 million for kidney transplants.
Alleged outcomes: 9 patients arranged, 5 deaths after transplant
According to the court judgment, a total of nine patients were allegedly arranged by Chen to undergo organ transplants in China. Among them, five received liver transplants. One patient reportedly paid as much as NT$14 million and died less than two weeks after surgery. Three others died within two years, and one died five years after the operation.
The court held that Chen, as a transplant specialist, had exploited patients’ desperation for survival for profit, seriously violating the principle of non-commercialization in organ transplantation. However, considering that Chen admitted to the charges after the fact and had fully returned the illicit gains, the court determined there was no strong risk of reoffending.
In July 2025, the court sentenced Chen to two years in prison with a five-year suspended sentence, imposed a NT$5 million fine, and confiscated NT$14.66 million in illegal gains. The appellate court concluded in March 2026 and upheld the original ruling.
Number of transplants surge after 1999
According to an investigation by the organization “World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong,” before 1999, there were fewer than 100 organ transplant hospitals in China, with each performing fewer than 100 transplant cases. After 1999, the number of transplant hospitals reportedly expanded rapidly.
The organ transplant center director at Xiangya Third Hospital of Central South University, who was involved in academic exchanges with the Taiwanese physician Chen, is described as part of one of China’s earlier large-scale transplant centers.
Xiangya Third Hospital in Hunan Province was reported in 2023 to have been exposed in a scandal involving a joint complaint by medical staff, including allegations that a department head allowed students to conduct examinations that led to a patient’s death. It has also previously been accused in external reports of being involved in organ transplant activities.
An overseas independent investigative group, the “World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong,” published a report in 2016 describing the hospital’s role in China’s organ transplant field and alleging serious human rights concerns related to organ sourcing.
In addition, the article notes that in recent years, large numbers of missing-person cases in China have raised external speculation about possible links to the organ transplant industry.
Disappearances, student medical checkups, and suppression of missing-person reports have been interpreted by some as potentially connected to illegal organ sources.
