As well as a shortage of protective gear, doctors and nurses are on the brink of collapse from exhaustion. If the situation worsens, lives that could have been saved will be lost, a health care worker has warned.
Kagawa Prefectural Central Hospital announced on March 11 that it has decided to pay 216.71 million yen as damages to a patient who was left with a sequela due to complications during surgery for a jaw deformity.
The health minister is expected to formally approve the therapy, Zolgensma, by the end of March, with public health insurance coverage seen starting this summer. The therapy, which has already been approved in the United States, is expensive, costing the dollar equivalent of 230 million yen in the country for one-time infusion.
The Japan Sports Agency pointed out that the latest results reflected a drop in time spent on exercise, excluding physical education at schools, growth in time for smartphones and rising obesity rates.
Under the current system, people aged 75 or above, excluding those with incomes comparable to those of preretirement workers, pay 10 pct of medical expenses out of pocket. The government plans to boost the share to 20 pct for those with incomes above a certain level.
“A total of 293 cases, or 7.3 percent, resulted in deaths, while 427 cases, or 10.6 percent, left patients with a high chance of permanent disabilities.0
“The decision comes after the ministry’s survey following the deadly torrential rains in western Japan and the earthquake that caused a complete blackout in Hokkaido last year found that more than 100 of the hospitals do not meet either of the criteria.”
