The Japanese boy, Hiroki Ando, who had to go to the US for a heart transplant, was finally able to receive one on July 2, and seems to be doing well according to his diary in his mother's blog (in Japanese) and has left the hospital for outpatient "rehabilitation" in New York.

A law revising the age for organ transplants was passed recently, so the need for Japanese children to go overseas for such care may slowly decrease.

Hospitals take action to avoid (foreign) flu germs

Some patients were rejected by hospitals after reporting that they worked at Narita International Airport or have a foreign friend. Japan Times.

As usual, some hospitals are refusing to treat patients for some rather curious reasons. That's not a problem though, for they can do that here even if someone dies (a number of such cases have appeared in the news over the last few years).

Now some are refusing to treat people with a fever, instead telling them to go to the special flu clinics set up earlier. This doesn't always work, for some who have visited a flu clinic have still been rejected by hospitals after being directed to go to one by a clinic.

The Tokyo government might investigate these incidents as violations of the medical practitioner's law. Thank goodness! Expect immediate and decisive action to end this sort of practice forever!

Wonder what happens when someone with a foreign friend who happens to be non-Japanese herself asks for treatment at one of these sleazy places? I wondered how long it would take before the "dangerous foreigner" angle appeared. It is never a question of if, but of when and to what degree.

Do you follow proper hygienic practices, doc?

Should anyone not already be aware, people who have had their blood checked recently should consult a doctor, because of the widespread reuse of blood-checking devices.

Reuse was acknowledged at 65 percent of the hospitals that provided the blood-check service and 48 percent of the clinics, according to the ministry. Japan Times.

Years ago I read one of the many books about living in Japan in which advice was given on where to go and how to do the normal things for daily life. In a section about visiting a dentist, the author recommended checking the dentist's equipment to make sure that it was clean. I never understood how one was to do this. "Excuse me, may I inspect your tools for signs of bacteria or remnants from your last patient's teeth?" Even if you could check them, how would you know if they were properly sterilized or not?

Perhaps it might be a good idea to ask if the needle being inserted into your body by your medical professional is new or used.

They tell me of an uncloudy day

Oh, finally, an April day without rain. Won't last though. Although Japan is the only country in the whole universe with four clearly distinct seasons, this year April reminds me of home. Rain, rain, and more rain....

Speaking of cloudy, I recently watched a US news program about healthcare outside of the US. Japan was included. The Japan segment opened with the immediately identifiable Japanese music (shamisen?) which one almost never hears in modern Tokyo and a shot of the talking head reporter in front of Shibuya station which looks nothing like most of Japan. A shallow sugar-coated examination of Japan's healthcare system followed. (Japan's system isn't bad, but it is likely to face huge problems as society ages.)

Perhaps there will be more details about this "report" later as sugar-coating myth-makers are a bit irritating. Especially irritating is that this report was supposed to give Americans an idea of how other countries handle healthcare and thus provide some useful information in the struggle to improve the U.S.' healthcare mess. More shallow half-truths are not what is needed. A hint of the possible future of Japan's healthcare system is here.

...it isn't universal at all. Only those who pay get in.

US taxpayers helped fund that report (public TV). Where is the nutty rightwing when you need it?

But it is Sunday and I am trying not to think of such things...

Where's Mikey Moore Part 2

Punish the patient, kill him if need be to get back at hospital which violated the government's rules:

The 60-year-old had been undergoing the LAK treatment — which was not covered by his public health insurance policy — since September 2001 when it was found that his cancer had spread to some bones in his head and cervical vertebra.

The center told him his LAK therapy must be stopped because a weekly magazine had carried an article alleging the facility practiced "kongo shinryo"[combined insured and uninsured treatment] for another LAK therapy patient....

....public health insurance coverage is denied for insurance-eligible diagnoses, drugs, surgeries, other procedures and hospital costs when a patient simultaneously receives uninsured treatment, which is often expensive. Read more.

Where's Michael Moore?

The doctor will see the moneyed and insured, but less fortunate also ail

Hirata said his facility is not intended solely for the wealthy, but because of its location, most of its foreign patients are employees of Japanese units of foreign financial companies and are well-insured.

Those without insurance sometimes pay the full charge in cash, he said. In fact, all uninsured patients are required to pay ¥30,000 as a deposit and to cover the first consultation fee.

"I'm afraid we cannot provide our service to those who cannot afford the payment," Hirata explained. Full story at the Japan Times Online.

Oh, no! In Japan's socialized health care system? Why, even it is becoming foreign! An even bigger problem is that of emergency patients dying while ambulance crews desperately search for a hospital which will accept them. Usually it's something like, "Oh, we are too busy" or "We haven't enough doctors," or even "He/she may have a contagious disease," so they are basically left to die in an ambulance. For example, the latest case.