Little attention has been paid to medical malpractice litigationin Japan for several reasons.
First, there was a perceptionthat there were
small numbers of malpractice suits.
Second,confidentiality of claims-related
information, including thenumber of claims filed, has been
highly protected, shieldinghealth care professionals from data
that would reveal emergingproblems.
Third, the literature of medicolegal issues, fragmentedthrough publication in many nonmedical journals, is not easilyaccessible to clinicians.