Man gets 8 months in jail for disrupting Chiayi urologist's practice

Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) A 62-year-old man received an eight-month jail sentence for yelling and making threats outside a urology clinic at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital's branch in Chiayi County last year, the Chiayi District Court ruled in a summary judgement.

The man, surnamed Chiang (江), was convicted of violating Article 24 of the Medical Care Act for hindering the practice of medicine by means of violence, coercion, intimidation, public insults or other illegal methods, the court said in the ruling.

Chiang should face the legal consequences of his inability to control his temper, his disrespect for medical procedures and his behavior's impact on other patients' right to seek medical services, the court said in the judgment, which can be appealed.

The eight-month sentence can be commuted to a fine at a daily rate of NT$1,000 (US$33.28).

According to the indictment filed on Aug. 5 by the Chiayi District Prosecutors Office for a summary judgment, Chiang allegedly started the disruptive behavior in the waiting area of the hospital on Feb. 27, 2024.

"This urologist is very bad," Chiang allegedly said. He also made threats, such as "if I end up dead, so should you" according to the indictment.

Chiang later twice ranted in the urologist's clinic in the hospital, once on Aug. 1, 2024, and once on Sept. 19, 2024, and the urologist reported the incidents to the police.

There was no indication of what specifically set Chiang off.

The prosecutors requested a summary judgement because Chiang confessed to what he was accused of during police questioning and prosecutors' investigations.