Breach of Information Ethics and Medical Professional Ethics during SARS Epidemic in Japan

Abstract

SARS has received much attention not only because of its contagious nature and high fatality rate, but also because facilities for treating patients were the very place of infection. According to the Japanese mass media, the only case of SARS in Japan was one Taiwanese tourist. However, the official announcement was misleading. The Japanese SARS Expert Committee introduced the term ”confirmed case” in their definition without describing its diagnostic criteria, and as no method of confirming SARS was available, no cases were considered to have occurred in Japan. Thus, the number of SARS cases remained at zero in the mass media and on the WHO website, although the number of suspected and probable cases reported on the government website were increasing. This withholding of information was made possible by collusion between the triad of medical experts, mass media and health officials. Fortunately, during the 2003 SARS epidemic, no secondary cases occurred in Japan. However, had secondary cases occurred, such withholding of information would have had disastrous consequences domestically and internationally. It is hoped that medical experts, media reporters and health officials will in future behave in accordance with their professional ethics.