[Toxicologic screening in Japan].

Abstract

What we have learned from the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack on March 20, 1995, and the Wakayama poisoned curry incident on July 25, 1998, is that Japanese system for the analysis of drugs and poisons for medical treatment is extremely poor. The frequent occurrence of crimes involving drugs and poisons has become a serious problem. In response, the government established the Countermeasure Committee for Poisonous and Dangerous Substances, which submitted a report in November 1998. Based on that report, the Ministry of Health and Welfare equipped emergency medical centers with expensive analytical instruments, such as high-performance liquid chromatography columns and fluorescence X-ray analyzers, upon request. However, problems in their operation have occurred, and few such facilities work efficiently. In the Wakayama incident, the initial was food poisoning. Only after 11 hours and the deaths of four people was the diagnosis of cyanide poisoning made public. During that process, at least three mistakes were made. We believe that a basic and correct understanding of those mistakes and the development of countermeasures are necessary to analyze drugs and poisons from a medical standpoint.