Only 10% of suspicious deaths undergo autopsies

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Only 10 percent of suspicious deaths in Japan underwent forensic autopsies in 2009, mainly because the government has failed to convince people of their importance, according to experts.

Japan's autopsy rate is the lowest among advanced nations, compared with 100 percent in Finland and Sweden and 50 to 60 percent in Britain, the United States and Australia.

Chiba University Prof. Hirotaro Iwase, director of the Japanese Society of Legal Medicine, said people in other developed countries are aware of the public service role that forensic autopsies play in protecting bereaved families' rights.

He also emphasized how determining the cause of death can lead to advances in medical research and treatment.

"It doesn't mean people in these countries like autopsies," said Iwase. "It depends on whether the government explains their importance for the sake of the deceased and their bereaved families and therefore gains public trust."

In the United States, a general public prejudice against coroners and medical examiners as well as a neglect in clarifying the causes of death existed up until the 1980s.

However, because of advances in medical technology, the U.S. government revised its laws and upgraded systems for conducting autopsies and other examinations when it was revealed some murder cases had been overlooked.

Domestically, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry began a program this fiscal year to train drug-testing experts and doctors in autopsy procedures. The program is run in cooperation with Nagasaki, Yamaguchi and Tohoku universities.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry also set up a panel to study the greater use of examining bodies using images generated via computer tomography.

The National Police Agency--which set up a research team of related ministries and agencies, doctors of forensic medicine and scholars of criminal law--released an interim report in July that suggests the rate of forensic autopsies will double to 20 percent in five years and eventually reach 50 percent.

The report also says the NPA will consider securing the budget to raise the number of doctors trained in autopsy procedures, improving facilities and increasing public funding to cover the cost of such services.

However, a senior health ministry official said many in the ministry believe it is more important to first solve the national shortage of general practitioners.

A senior NPA official also said governmental offices differ in their interest in the matter.

Coordination among these offices is key to promoting autopsies, observers said.