Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[SN]

Murders in hospitals in Japan

Doctors scandal.------it is necessary to build up the system in which all doctors can learn from mulpractices.

To describe the case, there is no word but " human experiment in a closed-door room". In the result,lives were lost. It is always patients in a weak position who suffered from those sort of malpractices. Is there any measure to prevent from mulpractices. Although preventive measures have been discussed many times, there is only gloomy outlook.

In the case of the die of one guy (then 60 years old) who had a laparoscopic operation for the removal of the prostate cancer last November, the Metropolitan Police Department arrested three doctors in the urology department for the professional negligence resulting in death.

I want to point out what the problem is and what happened in the hospital from the side of both doctors and the management system of the hospital.

Laparoscopic operation, which is to open the abdomen , to put in an endoscope and to remove the prostate cancer with watching inside of the body through the TV monitor,
is the technology, which is subject to the highly advanced medical treatment. The operation is more difficult than normal operation to open the abdomen and remove the cancer directly. It needs rich experience and skills. There is a guideline which says that the doctor who do the operation needs to have experienced the operation asistance more than ten times.

But the doctors who were arrested don't have such experience. In addition any well-experienced doctor was not present at the operation as adviser. They did the operation with reading the manual of the endoscope and with the presence of the salesperson of it. This is unforgivable.

They testified in the investigation that they wanted to do a highly-advanced operation. Operation for ambition or achievement is too much for patients.

And they made other important mistakes that excessive blood was lost because the dicision to change into laparatomy was late and that additional blood transfusion was not ready.

The hospital's management system has some problems. Their operation was not applied to the ethycal community of the university. And it is said that the director of the hospital didn't know about it. This case is the typical example of that system cannot work. The police authorities think that they did not give enough explanation to the patient.

The hospital has to investigate the cause of the malpractice by itself and to build up the system for taking its resposinbility. Additionally it has to make a masure to prevent from the reoccurance.

Due to successive malpractices,distrust for doctors has been increased. The medical association and related societies have to make utmost efforts to recover the people's trust for doctors. It is only natural that highly advanced medical treatments have not to go back.

There is no legal system that malpractices have to be reported in Japan. This leads to the nature that doctors conceal the malpractices. Health and welfare ministry is going to make the malpractice report system at last next year. A third party organisation is going to collect the cases and analyze and make use of them in order to prevent them. The target facilities has not to be limited to national hospitals and university hospitals but they has to be expanded.

Needless to say, basically doctors' skill has to improve to keep up with constantly advancing medical treatments. Although there is no malpractice in ideal,malpractices happen one after another. The system for doctors to investigate and prevent them has to be made up as soon as possible.

[waslord]

Hello SN I think you're new!!! Should we chat???