For patients with an annual income of about 7 million yen, the original plan called for raising the monthly limit by about 60,000 yen to about 140,000 yen for the first three times. For the fourth time and later, the limit was to rise from the current 44,400 yen to 76,800 yen in August 2027. Under the revised plan, the current limits for the fourth time and later will not be raised, regardless of patients’ income levels.
The health ministry announced plans Thursday to revise regulations to allow over-the-counter (OTC) drugs to be picked up at convenience stores without the presence of pharmacists or registered salespersons. Customers will be required to receive explanations about the medication online from a pharmacist or registered salesperson before making a purchase.
The Japanese government plans to reduce the official prices for nearly half of all drugs under the public health insurance program in its fiscal 2025 revision, informed sources said Friday. This is expected to cut national medical expenses by some 250 billion yen, alleviating burdens on patients while squeezing the pharmaceutical industry.
The first meeting of the “Medical and Health Management Issues Reform Committee,” which will consider measures to address high health risks for residents of Nakai Yamayuri En (Nakai Town), a prefectural facility for the intellectually disabled, was held on December 18th at the prefectural office in Naka Ward, Yokohama. As investigations into cases of abuse of residents at the facility progress, issues such as residents not receiving appropriate medical care have emerged. At the beginning of the meeting, Governor Yuji Kuroiwa said, “A new issue of medical gaps has come to light. We would like to position this as part of the reform of Nakai Yamayuri En.” ‘Nakai Yamayuri En’ is ran by the same company that manages the ‘Tsukui Yamayuri En’ care facility where, in the early hours of July 26th 2016, a former employee broke in and killed 19 residents between the ages of 19 and 70 with a knife, injuring 26 others.
A respiratory society and other institutions in Japan have jointly announced measures to prevent the spread of mycoplasma pneumonia, which is on the rise in the country. Mycoplasma pneumonia is a respiratory disease caused by bacteria. Children are more susceptible to infection than adults. Symptoms include a fever and a persistent cough. Cases of mycoplasma pneumonia began to rise this summer in Japan. Data from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases show that the weekly average number of cases reported by about 500 medical institutions nationwide hit a new high on October 13. It was the third straight weekly high since a new method of data collection was instituted.
1.35 million people in Japan who suffer from mild traumatic brain injury or MTBI, most commonly manifesting as concussion. Symptoms include memory loss, dizziness, sensory sensitivity, difficulty with thinking, and mood swings, among others. Many of the patients typically experience whiplash in car accidents or from sports injuries, resulting in the symptoms of higher brain dysfunction without proper treatment or compensation since their injuries are too small to detect in MRIs and CT scans.
The health ministry Tuesday approved the production and sale of a new medicine for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Japan, raising hopes among patients. In a doctor-led clinical trial, the drug, mecobalamin, extended the survival period of patients within a year of the onset of ALS by over 500 days, surpassing existing drugs.
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.
Fujitsu Ltd. said Monday that it will begin a service for automatically creating clinical trial documents as part of efforts to accelerate digitalization in the area.
Barrier Free Japan