Ryan Ginstrom wrote:

> A certain person close to my family has recently undergone heart surgery in
> Japan. For this person's privacy, I will call them Bill.
>
> We were told that the surgery went well, and were relieved. That is, until a
> couple days later when they admitted that they had accidentally left a
> needle inside Bill's heart. I was a bit upset by the hospital's handling of
> the matter, especially when they didn't want to "ichi ichi" explain the
> situation to Bill's mother because "they already explained the situation to
> Bill and Bill's sister."
>
> Typical o-erai-san complex of Japanese doctors. So to put a little fear of
> GAWD into him, I told him that if this was the United States, I would sue
> this hospital out of existence and ensure that he never practiced medicine
> again, and although I realized things are done differently in Japan,
> transparency and accountability are still paramount, and the doctor thus has
> an obligation to inform the patient/the patient's family of any problems
> immediately, and to explain the situation to the satisfaction of all
> concerned parties.
>
> This appeared to change his thinking on the subject slightly, and he was a
> bit more responsive after this (I think more than a lawsuit, he and the
> hospital are quite rightly worried about negative press exposure -- they are
> particularly vulnerable right now).
>
> As I said the doctor turned around after a bit of the old gaiatsu, and
> offered to support any actions by us to seek a second opinion (ie should
> the needle be left in there, or should they open up Bill again and remove
> it). One might rightly be suspicious of the motivations behind the medical
> opinions of the doctor who left the needle in there in the first place!
>
> But that's just the buildup to what really has me bum-fluckered astonished.
> We phoned another hospital that treated Bill several years ago, explained
> the situation, and said they could have access to all of Bill's records, and
> speak directly with the doctors who are treating him, and that the doctor
> had in fact suggested we seek a second opinion.
>
> The hospital's response: we are not treating him presently, so we cannot
> give any opinion. We suggest you follow the advice of the doctor who is
> treating Bill.
>
> Talk about a freaking code of silence! Heaven forbid that a doctor in Japan
> should contradict the opinion of another doctor.

Yes, as doctors have reported, because the medical community is so small, with
children of doctors who themselves intend to be doctors, studying or working
under acquaintances or doctors their parents are indebted to and such, that
doing something as terrible as doing what's right, could screw them all for
life.

> People might stop thinking
> that they are infallible. Well, if Bill didn't think this already, I think
> losing a needle inside his heart probably clinched it.
>
> We are not parents or siblings of Bill, so we want to leave what is
> done up to them. Bill's brother thinks the solution is to demand an isharyou
> of ~500,000 yen -- "that'll be a sign of their remorse." I personally have
> no idea what a piece of chump-change like that is going to resolve, but
> that's their decision to make.

It's pretty hard to deny a needle in the heart if it's still there. They should
record all interactions with that hospital, as well as get a lawyer and go to
the news.