Lawyer Moriya Kazuma, a volunteer with an outfit called the Group to Support Patients' Rights Law, says they have the support of opposition legislators, but not of those from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. He says doctors knowingly prescribe ineffective medicine, such as antibiotics for the common cold. Behind all this is greed and manipulation of the system by doctors, who receive fixed fees for the drugs they prescribe. While the cost of medicines may come down, reimbursement from the government stays the same. The difference forms the doctors' profit margin.
Greed shows in other ways too.
To increase their income, many doctors arrange to see too many patients in a day. A government survey in September revealed that one in four waits more than an hour for a consultation, and then spends less than 10 minutes with the doctor. Unable to read English, they cannot keep up with advances in the West. Often it is a case of the higher ranked the doctor, the haughtier the attitude and the lower the knowledge level. Kondo says using mastectomy as the standard treatment for breast cancer in women, rather than the less traumatic lumpectomy, is an example of such backwardness.