Japanese Live Long on Afterbirth

[GuyJean]

[omae mona]

I knew natto reminded me of *something*!!

[xenomorph42]

I knew natto reminded me of *something*!!

Just when you thought, Japanese couldn't get any nastier....

[Samurai_Jerk]

Come on, guys. You mean to tell me you've never popped a couple of placenta pills in the morning?

[leitmotiv]

Unregulated, human-derived blood products for internal use? This has hepatitis written all over it. Japan already had a history of blood product fuck ups being covered up, only decades later being reluctantly revealed

I cannot understand why this potentially dangerous quack product can (apparently) be insurance-reimbursed in Japan - with no regulatory approval (i.e., no proof that it does anything at all).

[Samurai_Jerk]

I cannot understand why this potentially dangerous quack product can (apparently) be insurance-reimbursed in Japan - with no regulatory approval (i.e., no proof that it does anything at all).

Especially when honest to goodness prescription meds, OTCs, and medical devices widely used in the rest of the world can't even get approved for sale (let alone national health insurance coverage) in Japan.

[leitmotiv]

Especially when honest to goodness prescription meds, OTCs, and medical devices widely used in the rest of the world can't even get approved for sale (let alone national health insurance coverage) in Japan.

Correct. There are a number of reasons for this in Japan. Many reflexively blame the MHLW, whose tasks include review and approval of new drugs and products. Its true they are a dinosaur-like bureacracy. And they currently have a serious manpower issue. The hiring pool of technical expertise needed to review the enormous documentation for drug approvals is simply not available at viable amounts in Japan. Hoever they are reforming over the last decade - and they do watch closely how the FDA and EMEA operate. But the by far larger source of the problem (i.e., lack of latest generation products) is Japanese pharma companies themselves - specifically the "management" therein. They have a fairly consistent inability to make sound decisions locally about global pharma products has led to many cancelled products in Japan that are available in US and EU. But creepy and dangerous unregulated placenta quack meds from the 1950s stick around, I guess.

[Greji]

Correct. There are a number of reasons for this in Japan.

You forgot one of the major reasons! Massive under the table payoffs from the Japanese Pharmaceutical houses, as well as huge numbers of post retirement Amakudairi jobs.....

[CrankyBastard]

What else can you do with placenta?
Might as well make a buck out of it!

[GuyJean]

What else can you do with placenta?
Might as well make a buck out of it!
]When I was young, we had hippie friends who would fry some up and eat it after a home birth.. Always thought that was strange. Still do..

Placentophagia: How to Prepare the Placenta for Consumption
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/289916/placentophagia_how_to_prepare_the_placenta.html?page=2&cat=5

.. Some of the most popular recipes for preparing the placenta include roast placenta (roasted in the oven as you would a pork roast), placenta cocktail (a drink blended with vegetable juices and ice), stew, and lasagna, and spaghetti, among others. (These and other recipes were published in the September 1983 issue of Mothering Magazine and may be found at http://www.twilightheadquarters.com/placenta.html. - NSFW!) While cooking may diminish some of the nutritional properties of the meat, it does make the process a bit more palatable, especially for those mothers with queasy stomachs who may not relish the idea of eating a raw organ. Even cooked placenta carries many of the nutritional benefits of placentophagia, and is a suitable option for mothers who would prefer not to eat the meat raw..

GJ

[hundefar]

Oh, come off the high horse, please! As if you all haven't smothered yourself in fresh placenta while wanking and crying out "mama! mama!" I know I have.

[leitmotiv]

You forgot one of the major reasons! Massive under the table payoffs from the Japanese Pharmaceutical houses, as well as huge numbers of post retirement Amakudairi jobs.....

I didnt forget - I am just not aware. Who do you think the Japan pharmas are paying under the table? And for what reason? Can you pls explain?

I am of course aware of amakudari - but I did not think it was a huge issue in the pharma area - its more an issue in construction, hotels, shipping, and the like (and a huge one at that). There is lots managerial deadwood in Japan pharma Cos, but in my understanding most of it is homegrown deadwood, not imported at high cost from gov't. Pls explain.

[Greji]

I didnt forget - I am just not aware. Who do you think the Japan pharmas are paying under the table? And for what reason? Can you pls explain?

It is easy to see although I don't think that anyone would want to give specifics. Just ask the question, if you were a drug firm and the foreign firms had a better pharmaceutic line, wouldn't it make more sense to pay one or two ringers in the ministry to string out the authorization to import, or declaration of it being safe for the market, then to pay for the addition PR hype to compete with what is probably a superior product?

I am of course aware of amakudari - but I did not think it was a huge issue in the pharma area - its more an issue in construction, hotels, shipping, and the like (and a huge one at that). There is lots managerial deadwood in Japan pharma Cos, but in my understanding most of it is homegrown deadwood, not imported at high cost from gov't. Pls explain.

All ministries have amakudari. All major elements of the Ministry of Health part of the MHL, will be actively recruited by the Big Pharmaceuticals here, be they Japanese, or foreign.

[baka tono]

Ok a placenta eating thread deserves this:puke:
and my comment that if I had a choice between eating cat and placenta gimme the damn cat! I would rather take cat pills too.

[Greji]

Ok a placenta eating thread deserves this:puke:
and my comment that if I had a choice between eating cat and placenta gimme the damn cat! I would rather take cat pills too.

Actually, I'm quite found of eating cats. That also makes a lot of friends over the long run....

[FG Lurker]

When I was young, we had hippie friends who would fry some up and eat it after a home birth.. Always thought that was strange. Still do..

Placentophagia: How to Prepare the Placenta for Consumption
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/289916/placentophagia_how_to_prepare_the_placenta.html?page=2&cat=5
GJ

Yum! Nothing like a bit of cannibalism to get the juices flowing!

[GomiGirl]

My question is - where are they sourcing these placentas?

If/when I sprog here in Japan, I am going to insist that cord blood is saved for my use and that the placenta is not sold by thoe hospital at a profit - unless I get a cut.

Call me cynical, but methinks there is a big money trade going on by hospitals and clinics without the knowledge or consent of the mothers supplying the raw materials.

[Greji]

".....If/when I sprog here in Japan...."

If you need any assistance with that project, I have a lot of experience with sprogs and am available for consults.

[hundefar]

My question is - where are they sourcing these placentas?

Call me cynical, but methinks there is a big money trade going on by hospitals and clinics without the knowledge or consent of the mothers supplying the raw materials.

No no, not at all. They get them at placenta-farms in India, where they pay next to nothing to the mothers to get impregnated, just so Japanese people can enjoy placenta remedies. The babies are used for spare organs and hamburgers, so luckily nothing goes to waste, except for the mothers, but since they are poor, nobody cares.