Japan has seen a surge in approved compensation claims by medical workers for work-related mental disorders, a government white paper showed Friday. The data from fiscal 2021 to fiscal 2023 show an annual average of 59.3 cases, up 3.6-fold from the 16.3 cases for fiscal 2012 to fiscal 2014. The most common factor over the entire survey period was “experiences or sightings of tragic accidents or disasters.”
Patients with rare diseases and under prolonged treatment will be exempt from a new Japanese system that imposes additional out-of-pocket payments for prescription drugs that are similar to over-the-counter medicines, the health ministry indicated Wednesday.
Japan has entered the influenza season, the health ministry said on Friday 28th August, marking the second earliest start since 1999, when the infectious disease control law went into force.
In the week to Sunday, the number of flu patients reported by some 3,000 designated medical institutions across the country stood at 1.11 per institution. A reading of 1 or higher suggests that flu season has begun.
The earliest start of flu season was recorded in 2009, about a week earlier than the ongoing season, excluding 2023, when the outbreak continued yearlong.
Japan will raise the caps on medical expenses borne by patients as part of changes in its high-cost medical care benefit system from August that are designed to curb ballooning national medical costs. The ceilings on monthly out-of-pocket medical expenses will be raised next month and in August 2027. The total margin of increases will reach 4 pct to 38 pct, varying depending on the annual income.
Japan’s health ministry has ordered Kissei Pharmaceutical Co. to report on 20 deaths among users of Tavneos, a vasculitis drug marketed by the company in Japan, health minister Kenichiro Ueno said Friday.
The order was issued on June 19, giving the company, based in the central Japan city of Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, until July 21 to submit a report. “We’ll continue to consider our response based on a report from the company and future developments in the United States, where the drug was developed,” Ueno said at a press conference.
Confusion and concern are spreading among families of children with developmental disabilities and medical professionals over the revision to Japan’s medical fee schedule that took effect on June 1.
The Japanese health ministry is set to begin providing about 470 million yen in aid this fiscal year to medical institutions that conduct a large number of organ transplants from brain-dead patients.
The drug is estimated to have been administered to 12,000 to 13,000 patients in Japan. All 20 dead patients developed liver dysfunction, and 210 similar side effect reports have been made, including suspected cases.
Kissei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that for its vasculitis treatment drug “Tavneos” (generic name: avacopan), 20 deaths have been reported in Japan among patients who took the medication. This figure includes cases where a causal relationship is unclear. On the 15th, the company called on healthcare professionals to refrain from administering the drug to new patients.
About 10 passengers were taken to hospital after an emergency report of something being sprayed in a train car on the Tokaido Line section of the Ueno-Tokyo Line of East Japan Railway Co. at about 4:35 p.m. on Sunday 10th May.
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