In the Headlines

I'm typing up another post as we speak, but for now I thought I'd post 2 articles detailing why I fear Japanese medical services.

Todai hospital also turned new mom away
The Yomiuri Shimbun
A pregnant woman who died of a brain hemorrhage after being refused emergency care by seven Tokyo hospitals also was refused admittance to Tokyo University Hospital, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The woman, 36, died three days after giving birth by emergency cesarean section and undergoing surgery for a cerebral hemorrhage at Metropolitan Bokuto Hospital in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, earlier this month.
Despite Tokyo University Hospital, in the capital's Bunkyo Ward, being designated as equivalent to a tertiary emergency medical facility for the treatment for critical patients, it said it refused to admit the woman because all the beds in its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were occupied.
Observers have noted that this situation again shows up insufficiencies in the nation's emergency care system.
The woman's regular doctor at the Gonohashi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, a clinic in Koto Ward the woman visited regularly during her pregnancy, called seven hospitals on the evening of Oct. 4 to request they admit her. They all turned down the request.
The reasons cited included: "All the intensive care beds are full," and "The obstetrician is busy handling the delivery of a child."
According to the Gonohashi doctor and staff at the university hospital, the woman had complained of a headache and nausea while being transported in a Tokyo Fire Department ambulance. Believing she would be admitted by Tokyo University Hospital, her doctor and ambulance crew decided to try to have her accepted there.
When staff at the university hospital heard of the woman's condition, they decided the child would have to be admitted to its NICU following his or her birth. But all nine beds in the unit were reportedly full, so woman was refused admission.
The woman was taken to Metropolitan Bokuto Hospital, one of the facilities that had initially turned her away. She underwent a cesarean section at about 9:30 p.m., and had cerebral hemorrhage surgery at about 10 p.m. The child reportedly remains in good health, but the mother died three days later.

The sad thing is that this is not at all uncommon. I think I wrote this in an earlier post, but I'll write it again for emphasis. I had a friend in Japan who had appendicitis. She was turned away by 2 hospitals before her appendix burst and she was finally admitted by a third hospital.

Here's a new and innovative idea from a newspaper contributor.

Obstetrics, emergency depts must cooperate
Makiko Tatebayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
In order to avoid a situation in which patients in need of emergency care are turned away by a succession of hospitals, improvements to the emergency treatment system must be made to ensure that key hospitals are able to accept patients around-the-clock.
Earlier this month, a pregnant woman suffered a brain hemorrhage and died after being refused by seven hospitals. Metropolitan Bokuto Hospital in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, initially refused a request to admit the woman, but later accepted her when it was contacted again, which prompts the question: Why did the hospital fail to swiftly admit the woman the first time?
Two years ago, a pregnant woman in Nara Prefecture died after being refused treatment from 19 hospitals. That woman also suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Now, I don't know a whole lot about hospitals in America, but I do know that I've never been worried about being turned away from a hospital there. In America, my home city hospital is willing to admit anyone, and within thirty minutes you can be assured, regardless of age, gender, or sexual preference, of being told that you pregnant. Mind you, it may not be the BEST medical care, but it IS always available. In Japan, there's just no guarantee that you'll even get in the hospital. If you get a horrible, festering wound in Japan, it's probably best just to go to the school nurse, who will sneeze on it and then but a bandaid over it. Seriously, it's no wonder people here live to be 1,000. They either die young or acquire an immunity to everything, including death.