A couple from the Philippines and their two nieces have been accused of illegally practicing dentistry after entering Taiwan as tourists, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office said on Tuesday.
In August 2023, the Taoyuan Department of Public Health received a tip-off about foreign nationals suspected of running a dental operation in Taoyuan District (桃園) in contravention of the Physicians Act (醫師法), the prosecutors’ office said.
Investigators went to the property on Linsen Road and encountered a woman working as a dentist, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office
Further investigation by a task force of prosecutors, police and public health officials determined that a husband and wife from the Philippines were running the clinic, while the woman they had encountered was their niece, it said.
Investigators determined that the couple had entered and exited Taiwan multiple times as short-term, visa-free tourists, and provided unauthorized medical treatment to migrant workers at the site from February 2023 until Aug. 2, 2023, when the public health department conducted an inspection, the prosecutors’ office said.
They resumed operations at a site on Jhonghua Road in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) from September last year until April 17, when prosecutors led a search and found the couple and two others performing dental procedures such as brace adjustments, teeth whitening and denture fitting, including injections of drugs, it said.
Authorities seized NT$299,500 in alleged illegal income, along with medical equipment and devices, it said.
At the time of the raid, 20 people were waiting for treatment, it said.
All four suspects were detained following court approval, it added.
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