The Fukushima District Court has acquitted an obstetrician charged with professional negligence in the December 2004 death of a 29-year-old woman from blood loss during a Caesarean operation.
This case was different from typical medical malpractice. The indictment of an obstetrician over what is regarded as a standard medical procedure spread fear among doctors that their practices might easily become a target of investigation. The case is believed to have prompted many obstetricians to stop participating in deliveries. Police and public prosecutors should not launch a criminal investigation of a doctor's actions during normal medical treatment. The prosecution should not appeal the ruling.
The case highlighted the nation's obstetrician shortage. The defendant, Dr. Katsuhiko Kato, was the only gynecologist- obstetrician at Ono Hospital, in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture. The placenta of the woman giving birth was firmly attached to her uterus — a condition occurring in only one in about 10,000 deliveries. The prosecution accused Dr. Kato of detaching the placenta from the uterus while aware of the risk of massive bleeding, when he should have removed the uterus.