"another fool" <anotherfool@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:44845040.0309250354.46e166fd@posting.google.com...
> Having had to deal with the Japanese medical system recently I can say
> simply that from a cost perspective it has the US system beat to hell.

Both systems have their advantages, but forgive me for not being thrilled
about a system that is not as good, but cheaper.

> As far as 'tracking' every needle - how?  Should they take a video of
> where they put every needle?  Should they use a digital camera?  What
> if they make a mistake and take the wrong needle out then think
> they've got them all?

Well, as a layman it doesn't seem too complicated. Obviously at one point,
the doctor was handed the needle, and did something with it. At that point,
the surgeon obviously knew exactly where the needle was. To turn the
question on its head, at what point is it OK to lose track of the needle? If
a doctor can be expected to forget having done something with that needle,
are there precautions that should be put in place against this eventuality?
Are such precautions feasible?

As I said, there may be good explanations for these things. The problem is,
Bill and Bill's family are not getting such explanations, and in fact the
doctors seemed pretty annoyed that we should actually be asking them.

> Mistakes happen and sometimes they are just that, mistakes.

Yes, sometimes they are mistakes, and sometimes they are negligence. There
is a process for distinguishing between the two in even in Japan, except in
Japan this process is largely broken.

> I do agree though that he and his family should have been notified
> immediatly of the situation though.  And have they done an x-ray to
> find the needle and determine if it needs to come out?

That is what the second opinion was supposed to be about, an opinion that
was not forthcoming due to Japan's OB network and cronyism.

-- 
Regards,
Ryan Ginstrom