Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators have proposed amendments to increase penalties for assaults on healthcare workers.
KMT Legislator Chen Ching-hui (陳菁徽) and several other KMT lawmakers have submitted separate draft amendments to articles 24 and 106 of the Medical Care Act (醫療法) that would stiffen penalties for acts of violence against medical personnel and enhance real-time reporting and law-enforcement coordination mechanisms.
The proposals include a provision allowing any person to assist medical staff in stopping an attack before police arrive.
Photo: CNA
Following incidents of violence against medical personnel, five major medical associations issued a joint statement declaring “zero tolerance” for such attacks and urging the Legislative Yuan to fast-track the amendments.
The groups are the Taiwan Union of Nurses Association, the Taiwan Medical Association, the Taiwan Hospital Association, the Taiwan Nongovernmental Hospitals and Clinics Association and the Taiwan College of Healthcare Executives.
Current penalties lack a sufficient deterrent effect and fail to curb the rising number of attacks, the groups said.
Article 24 of the act stipulates that “no person shall hinder medical practices by means of violence, coercion, intimidation, public insults or other illegal methods.”
Article 106 states that those who contravene Article 24 could be fined NT$30,000 to NT$50,000, while those who damage life-saving equipment in medical care institutions and endanger the life, body or health of others would face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to NT$300,000.
Those who hinder medical personnel from carrying out their duties by means of violence, coercion, intimidation or other illegal methods would face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to NT$300,000.
“Although the current law clearly prohibits violence against healthcare workers, incidents continue unabated, showing that penalties are too light, enforcement is inadequate and some provisions remain ambiguous,” said Chen, who is also a doctor.
Incidents of medical services being disrupted at healthcare facilities rose from 252 in 2020 to 284 in 2021, 260 in 2022 and 331 in 2023, she said, citing Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics.
A Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine survey found that nearly 80 percent of emergency room staff have faced violent threats, while almost 40 percent have been attacked, she said.
Police usually take four to five minutes to reach a hospital after an emergency call, Chen said.
Her proposal would permit bystanders to help medical staff repel or stop assaults before officers arrive, providing legal protection for good Samaritans and helping create a safe healthcare environment, she said.
Her other proposed amendments include raising fines for obstructing medical practice through violence, coercion, intimidation, public humiliation or other illegal means to between NT$50,000 and NT$150,000.
The penalty for damaging life-protecting equipment in medical facilities in a way that endangers others would be increased to prison terms of three months to three years or a fine between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000.
For using violence, coercion, intimidation or other illegal means to obstruct medical personnel or emergency responders, the penalty would be raised to from six months to five years in prison, with a fine between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000.
In cases resulting in serious injury, she proposed raising the penalty to between five and 12 years in prison, up from three to 10 years.
In cases where such obstruction results in death, the penalty would be raised to 10 years to life imprisonment, up from seven years to life imprisonment.
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