Medical Accidents and the Responsibility of the Medical Community

Patient A, the woman who was having a child in this incident, was born in 1975 and get married in 1997. In July 2001, she gave birth to her first child at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, B Kosei Hospital by means of cesarean section. She conceived her second child in 2004. She visited early in May the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Fukushima Prefectural Oono Hospital, and was diagnosed by the accused Dr. Y as being in the 5th week of pregnancy. Thereafter, she regularly attended the hospital and was examined by Dr. Y. On October 22, Dr. Y made a diagnosis of complete placenta previa. On November 22, patient A was admitted to Oono Hospital for treatment of threatened abortion and management of placenta previa. On December 6, Dr. Y explained to the patient that cesarean section would be performed and simple hysterectomy might become necessary depending on the circumstances. On December 14, Dr. Y gave explanation to patient A and her husband about the presence of a placenta previa, the possibility that the placenta might be on the scar of previous cesarean section, the possibility of blood transfusion, the possibility of thrombosis, and other facts, and obtained consent to surgical operation. As of December 2004, Oono Hospital was a designated secondary emergency care hospital. It had the Departments of Internal Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Anesthesiology, and was staffed with 12 full-time