Patients were given organs from man carrying HIV

TAIPEI - Taiwan's health authorities say they are investigating a case of "critical medical negligence" that led to five patients receiving organs from an HIV-positive donor.

"The National Taiwan University Hospital is required to come up with a detailed report before the end of Tuesday," Wang Je-chau, a spokesman for the department of health, told Agence France-Presse on Sunday, referring to the hospital where four of the five transplant operations were performed on Thursday.

The department said it was the first-ever known case of recipients being exposed to the risk of contracting AIDS because of organ transplants.