Aimi Kuroda, a female doctor at Tokyo Cosmetic Surgery, apologized and explained on December 23 that she and the director of the clinic where she worked had taken photos of donated bodies and posted them on her blog during her training in Guam. There are calls for the revocation of medical qualifications on social media. What is the Health Ministry’s view on this?
The issue is Kuroda’s blog post titled ‘Dissection Training at Guam! -> Wrap-up party☆’ posted on December 2 (Already deleted). Among these was a photo of the specimen with the blur effect partially removed. Also a group photo of Kuroda with participants in front of the donation with piece signs was uploaded.
There has been a significant backlash on social media against the behavior without respect towards the parties who have agreed to donate, with some people saying that they don’t want to donate themselves, and even calling for the revocation of their medical qualifications.
The Medical Practitioners Act stipulates that the Minister of Health can issue a warning, suspension of medical practice for up to three years or revocation of a license when a doctor is sentenced to a fine or more, or when there is conduct that is detrimental to his or her dignity as a doctor. However, according to the Ministry’s Medical Affairs Bureau, it’s believed that no doctors or dentists have ever been subjected to administrative sanctions in relation to the handling of donated bodies. The conduct by Kuroda, whether or not it is subject to consultation by the Medical Practice Council, could also be consulted conduct that undermines the dignity of a doctor under the Medical Practitioners’ Act.
Recently, on November 27, administrative penalties against 20 doctors and eight dentists were discussed and two doctors’ licenses were revoked for arson and fraud.
In Kuroda’s blog on December 23, she stated ‘I sincerely apologize for the fact that I thought I had blurred all the bodies in the photos, but I wasn’t able to do so in some photos, and for the lack of ethics as a doctor and as a human being in my post. I’m truly sorry’.
