JAPAN-HUMAN RIGHTS: ‘Society’ Fights For the Right to Die

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jun 11 1996 (IPS) - For ten long years, Fumiko Kaneko watched her mother slowly die. Diagnosed with advanced breast cancer at the age of 65, Yoshie Kaneko had been bedridden for 10 years before she died last December at the age of 88.

Single, childless and with no one to turn to, Fumiko felt her mother’s pain and wished it would come to an end. “The experience was so traumatic that I decided I will not allow doctors to prolong my life when I fall sick.”

According to 60-year-old Kaneko, the doctors never told her mother that she was terminally ill. She underwent three operations in a vain attempt to slow the spreading cancer.

“I felt so alone at that time. Now I realise how deeply controlled I was by the medical profession who gave me no choices to decide about what to do about my mother.”

The case in point highlights a wider issue being debated in Japan today — euthanasia: the act of painlessly killing someone who is very ill or old in order to reduce their suffering.

Last week one doctor took matters into his own hands and injected his terminally ill cancer patient with a drug that caused death almost instantly.

The doctor, Yoshihiro Yamanaka, who prosecutors say is under investigation for murder, insists he made the decision in the interest of his patient although he never consulted him.

“It is difficult to obtain the patient’s consent because doctors are not legally obliged to inform serious cancer patients of their conditions,” Yamanaka told reporters. “I want to use my act to urge the setting up of a legal framework” for euthanasia cases.

The case is getting wide media attention with Yamanaka being vilified in some quarters and hailed as a hero in others, reflecting the sharp divide in Japanese society on the issue.

But Yamanaka’s actions do not have the support of the Japan Society for Dying with Dignity (JSDD) — a private citizens group which is spearheading a campaign for legislation that would give the public greater say in determining their own fate and that of relatives when death is inevitable.

Koichiro Adachi, head of the JSDD, says that doctors, wherever possible, should first consult the patient. “We believe it is essential the patient’s will be respected. That is why it is difficult to support the doctor,” he said.

But under present laws, even if a doctor at the bidding of the patient, induces death, he is liable to face criminal charges. This is what the JSDD hopes to change.

“We are fighting against the establishment that believes in prolonging life. We want legislation that will allow doctors to follow our wishes when we are terminally ill,” said Adachi.

According to Adachi, JSDD has risen dramatically in the past few years to now number more than 75,000, including more than 800 doctors — a reflection, he says, of the growing mass support for the movement’s point of view.

“The increased membership rate in Japan is higher than in other industrialised countries — at more than 7,000 annually — as more and more people grow older and become prone to terminal illnesses. This is proof enough of what we want,” he explained.

But up to now, no doctor has been willing to put himself on the line — that is except Yamanaka, and his case does not set the precedent the JSDD would like because of his failure to first consult the patient.

“Doctors are afraid they can be charged for murder. This is a big barrier for the respect of our human rights,” said Adachi.

Adachi claims the campaign would get more support from the medical fraternity were it not for the money to be made from prolonged treatment to terminally ill patients.

“Many doctors even move their dying patients to intensive care units for tests and recommend treatment which cost about 200,000 yen (2,000 dollars) a day on an average. It is really ridiculous,” he lamented.

And with no known parliamentary support, the movement’s goals seem a long way off.

“Our movement, which was set-up in 1976, has not been recognised by the Japanese government as yet. But members plan to fight on by themselves,” he says.

“Our biggest tool is a living will we have also signed with our doctors (to terminate their lives should death be inevitable and suffering long). This certificate which is not recognised legally, still affords us protection from the medical profession,” he insists.