Telegraph: Japanese PM Taro Aso offends doctors
Speaking in a meeting with prefectural governors to discuss a shortage of doctors, Mr. Aso said, "I understand that hospitals in rural areas are having trouble getting doctors. There are many who lack a fair degree of common sense. Their values are very different." Toshio Nakagawa, head of the Japan Medical Association, told a press conference later in the day, "It is incredible that Prime Minister Aso has made such a comment. We must verify what he meant and see what we should do"...Asked later to explain his comments about the doctors, Mr. Aso managed to give a less then fulsome apology, saying that he was sorry if he had offended and that he was sure that doctors with common sense would understand what he had meant. "Many of my friends are doctors but I have always felt that they were on a different wavelength to me," he told reporters...more...