Teikyo University Hospital makes a tallying error, bringing the number of deaths from infection with multidrug-resistant bacteria to 31.

Teikyo University Hospital made a data counting error, bringing the death toll from multidrug-resistant bacterial infections to 31.

 Teikyo University Hospital Director Shigeho Morita (left) and Infection Control Committee Chairman Kenji Eguchi bow at a press conference (morning of the 8th, in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo).

 Teikyo University Hospital (Itabashi Ward, Tokyo) had already confirmed 46 cases of infection with multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter, a bacterium that is resistant to multiple antibiotics. On September 8, 2010, the hospital announced that it had missed seven cases, further increasing the total to 53.

 At the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology in Itabashi Ward, Tokyo, three hospitalized patients were found to have been infected between February and August of this year.

 Eight cases have also been discovered at Yurin Hospital (Director Yasuo Hashimoto) in Setagaya Ward. The hospital held a press conference on the morning of September 8, 2010, denying that there had been any infection within the hospital, but the Tokyo Metropolitan Government criticized the hospital for delays in reporting the cases to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

 In the morning of September 8, 2010, Teikyo University Hospital Director Morita Shigeho held a press conference and began by bowing his head and saying, "We would like to apologize to the patients and their families for the additional cases."

 According to the hospital, the revision in the number of cases was due to a calculation error. It has now been discovered that a total of seven people were infected at the hospital between August last year and February this year. Of those, four have died, bringing the total number of infected deaths to 31. The hospital had previously stated that a causal relationship between infection and death could not be ruled out for only nine of the fatal cases, but the causal relationship between the infection and deaths of the four new cases is currently under investigation.

(Yomiuri Shimbun, September 8, 2010, 2:10 PM)

 Teikyo University Hospital's tallying error leads to 31 deaths from multidrug-resistant bacteria infection: Society: YOMIURI ONLINE (Yomiuri Shimbun)

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20100908-OYT1T00489.htm?from=nwla

 Teikyo University Hospital is known for its notoriety, and any Japanese person would harbor a strong negative impression of it.

 This latest incident remains unchanged, once again instilling in Japanese people the impression that nothing has changed at this university hospital.

Hospitalizing at such a hospital would be tantamount to suicide. Are there any doctors or nurses currently (or even former) hospitalized at this hospital? Are there any staff members at this hospital who have their family members hospitalized there?

 

 Unlike general hospitals, university-affiliated hospitals never go bankrupt, no matter how many scandals they may have. This is the same as national university-affiliated hospitals.

 Moreover, since most hospital staff are university employees, there is no risk of job loss. At a normal hospital, if you cause a problem and get fired, you would have nowhere to go.

 As a Japanese person, if I were to give advice to foreigners staying in Japan, I would say, "You should definitely avoid working at a Japanese university hospital."