Japan’s health ministry said Wednesday that puberulic acid caused kidney damage to users of Kobayashi Pharmaceutical Co.’s supplements containing “beni koji” red fermented rice. The acid is one of three chemical compounds detected in the supplements, while no kidney toxicity was confirmed in animal experiments from the other two compounds, the ministry said.
Toshima Ward will conduct an experiment on a new employment model for people with disabilities at the Sunshine City complex (Higashi-Ikebukuro). For the month of November, people with mental and intellectual disabilities will work short hours, and people who have difficulty going out will serve customers using avatar robots. An agreement was signed with the company on the 6th of this month for the experiment. In the experiment, about 10 ward residents with disabilities will practice the employment model at Sunshine City’s reception desk, aquarium, and observation deck. They will not be paid, but participants will receive a subsidy from the ward.
Mark Bookman was a historian, whose specialism was disability policy and related social movements in Japanese and global contexts. He studied Japanese Studies at University of Pennsylvania, and at the time of his death on December 16th 2022 he was Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Tokyo. The documentary film ‘Mark: A Call To Action’, directed by Ron Small about Mark, will be released on DVD on October 8th 2024:
he “Miyagi Appeal Action” rally was held in Sendai City on the 16th to raise awareness of the discrimination and difficulties facing people with disabilities. This is held annually by an executive committee made up of over 40 disability groups in Miyagi Prefecture. This year, in response to the Noto Peninsula earthquake, the theme was “Disability and Disaster Prevention,” and an appeal was adopted calling on the government to develop disaster prevention and evacuation plans that reflect the perspectives of people with disabilities.
The suspect had apparently been providing personal care for her 85-year-old husband Shori. She reportedly admitted to the charge by telling police, “There is no mistake (that I did it). I was tired of looking after him.”
On September 13th, the plaintiffs and the government signed a settlement agreement in a lawsuit over forced sterilization under the old Eugenic Protection Law. Final adjustments were being made on the government’s payment of 15 million yen in compensation to any individual who underwent the surgery. Lawsuits currently underway in various regions have been gradually entering settlement procedures, and the settlement will take place about six years and seven months after the first lawsuit was filed in 2018.
The agreement covers 19 plaintiffs of pending lawsuits across the country.
The population of people aged 65 and over in Japan was estimated at 36.25 million as of Sunday, up by 20,000 from a year earlier and hitting a record high, the internal affairs ministry said ahead of Monday’s Respect for the Aged Day.
A system revision in Japan in October will increase out-of-pocket expenses for patients who choose original drugs with expired patents over their generic counterparts. The revision is aimed at reducing the country’s overall medical costs by promoting the use of generic drugs, which have the same efficacy as the original drugs but are cheaper. Moisturizing ointments and patches are among the 1,095 items to be affected by the revision.
More than 60 percent of Japan’s 47 prefectures said they had not established plans to work with neighboring prefectures for dialysis patients in the event of a large-scale disaster, a recent survey by Kyodo News found.
On September 13th, the plaintiffs and the government signed a settlement agreement in a lawsuit over forced sterilization under the old Eugenic Protection Law. Final adjustments were being made on the government’s payment of 15 million yen in compensation to any individual who underwent the surgery. Lawsuits currently underway in various regions have been gradually entering settlement procedures, and the settlement will take place about six years and seven months after the first lawsuit was filed in 2018.
Barrier Free Japan