Five people at a Kaohsiung private hospital have been charged with letting unlicensed device company staff take part in operations, a serious blow to the hospital's reputation and to patient trust.

• Prosecutors say sales reps and an engineer from medical device suppliers stood at the operating table during spine and knee replacement surgeries.
• They allegedly measured connecting rods, handled a robotic arm positioning device, held pins in place and mixed bone cement — tasks reserved for licensed doctors.
• The hospital's president and vice president are among those charged under the law barring unlicensed people from practising medicine.
• The hospital denies breaking the law, says it has not yet received the formal charge documents, and both executives are still seeing patients as normal.
• The president earlier said he personally completed all the difficult steps and only asked a nurse and the supplier to measure a rod while bleeding was being controlled.

Outlook: The case now goes to court, and the hospital says it will comment further once it receives the formal charges.