Taiwan's legislature passed tougher penalties for hidden cameras in clinics and for attacks on medical workers — good news for patients and hospital staff, bad news for clinics that look the other way.

• Secretly filming or spying on patients can now bring up to three years in prison and a fine, with the equipment seized.
• Running a business that helps others film patients, or spreading and selling the footage, carries six months to five years in prison and a bigger fine — attempts are punishable too.
• Fines for threatening or attacking medical staff jump from a maximum of NT$50,000 to a range of NT$50,000 to NT$250,000, and now cover other hospital workers, not just doctors and nurses.
• Publicly insulting medical staff while they work can bring up to two years in prison.
• Hospitals and clinics that fail to put required safety measures in place face fines of their own.

The push followed the discovery of pinhole cameras in exam rooms at a chain of cosmetic clinics in May, which led to more cases at other beauty clinics.

Outlook: Clinics will face pressure to prove they have swept their exam rooms and put safety measures in place before regulators start enforcing the new fines.