Archiveless Gomiuri Shimbun
Eight patients treated at Tokyo Medical University Hospital have died since 2001 after undergoing heart bypass surgery by a surgeon already suspected of malpractice resulting in the death of three other patients, hospital officials said at a press conference Tuesday.
The press conference at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry was the first given by the Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, hospital since initial suspicions over the death of three patients after heart valve operations at the hospital surfaced last week.
According to the hospital, 249 heart valve and bypass operations have been carried out at its second surgery department since 2001, and 15 patients died following surgery. Of the 15, 11 operations were performed by the 45-year-old surgeon. Eight patients underwent heart bypass surgery and three had heart valve surgery.
"The surgeon attended all the operations carried out by the second surgery department as either head surgeon or as an assistant," said Prof. Shin Ishimaru, 57, the head professor of the department.
According to the press conference and other sources, the surgeon has performed 163 operations. He specializes in heart bypass surgery and since returning from study in Australia in February 2001, operated on 143 patients. Eight of the patients died after surgery, a death rate of 5.6 percent, surpassing the average death rate for such surgery of 2 percent.
The surgeon performed heart valve surgery on 20 patients between March 2001 and April 2003. Three patients died after surgery, and the death rate of 15 percent greatly exceeded the average death rate of 3 percent to 4 percent for heart valve surgery.
