Maeda, Shoichi

Technology related to medicine and medical treatment has advanced rapidly in recent years and enabled the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illnesses that were previously untreatable. On the other hand, technological advances have also created new ethical, legal and social issues. Issues related to prenatal diagnoses and elective abortions and end of life care and withholding and termination of life support are just a few examples. Within public health, many ethical, legal and social issues have been created, such as determining the order of priority for immunization against new infectious diseases. Within such an environment, the pressing issue of research and education relating to medical ethics has become all the more important. Technology used for medical treatment has also undergone remarkable progress over the past few years. However, this sophisticated technology has also become increasingly complex. Combined with a shortage of healthcare professionals, this has also led to an increasing number of medical errors. Such medical errors have become an important issue, not only in Japan, but also across the world, leading to a strong demand for more research and education on safe medical practices and how to respond to medical accidents. Dealing with error is not only applicable at the bedside. The approval of full-scale clinical research using stem cells requires thoughtful consideration of how to deal with clinical research ethics. These rapid changes exceed the boundaries of the traditional theoretical framework and force reconsideration of current public policy. Our laboratory aims for those involved in research, practice and public administration in a variety of fields to work together to study medical ethics and medical safety issues and suggest public policy improvements.

• Medical Law, Medical Ethics, Research Ethics, Clinical Ethics, Patient Safety Management, Risk Management