Taiwan's health authorities say they are now investigating a case of "critical medical negligence" that led to five patients receiving organs from an HIV-positive donor. This is the first and most serious example of medical negligence in the island's modern history.

The story started last Wednesday. A car accident killed a man, and his relative agreed to transplant five of his organs to people in need.

According to regular procedure, those organs need to be tested before surgery and the result should be delivered to transplant staff. But the hospital says, because of the hurry, test results were given over the telephone and were not double-checked.

The mistake happened because transplant staff believed the English word "reactive" on the donor's standard HIV test meant negative instead of positive.

Tang Qingding, hospital spokesman, said, "They delivered the message over the phone, and the doctors responsible misunderstood the meaning of the English words."

After the hospital discovered the mistake all the surgery had been carried out. The hospital immediately ran anti-AIDS medication, but experts say the efforts were too late. The HIV virus not only infects through blood, but also through tissues and cells, the chances of infection are 100 percent.

Meanwhile, the panic is also spreading among all the staff in the surgery. After hours of close contact with the infected organs, every of them could be infected.

And the donor's relatives are also shocked by the news. The donor's mother wanted to do some good, but the result turned out to be a tragedy for many.

The hospital which did the test of donor's organs is one of the island's best regarded hospitals. This is the first and most serious example of medical negligence not only at the hospital but also in the island's modern history.

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