Taiwan health officials say they are investigating a case of “critical medical negligence” after one of the island's leading hospitals approved organs from an HIV-positive donor to be transplanted into five patients.

Health Department authorities said Monday they will look into the case before deciding what penalties should be imposed on the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei. The department gave the hospital until the end of Tuesday to produce a detailed report on the incident.

The facility admits that its medical team misinterpreted a phone message on the donor's status and did not double-check test results before performing the transplants.

The organs came from a man who fell to his death last week. His family said they did not know the man was HIV-positive.

The donor's lungs, liver and two kidneys were transplanted at NTUH, while his heart was sent to a patient at National Cheng Kung University Hospital.

Doctors say the transplant patients will probably contract the disease and are receiving anti-AIDS drugs.