Medical care guidelines challenged in Japan

Doubts have been cast over the impartiality of some medical guidelines issued by the authorities in Japan, with claims that drugmakers' donations may influence the decisions of physicians. The Daily Yomiuri's on-line edition recently carried a report about the Japan Atherosclerosis Society guidelines, which define a total cholesterol count of 220 as high, compared with the US standard of 240.

In such a case, the difference in defining high cholesterol would double the number of people being recommended for treatment, with Tomohito Hamazaki, a professor of medicine at Toyama University, claiming that "the number of patients has been increased unnecessarily, which resulted in an excessive use of drugs."

Prof Hamzaki added that, under the stricter cholesterol standard, the number of patients diagnosed with high cholesterol levels would double, with half of all middle-aged and elderly women classified as requiring treatment.