Figure and Table | Characteristics of Malpractice Litigation Involving Pathological Autopsies Themselves in Japan: A Database Analysis

Table 1. Basic Characteristics of Litigation Related to Pathological Autopsies in Japan.

Case no.	Date of judgment	Name of court	Characteristics of plaintiff (relation to the deceased)	Characteristics of defendant	Conclusion	Approved damage (JPY)
1	Feb 1, 2000	Fukuoka HC, Miyazaki branch	Parents	Public Hospital	Approved	76,646,272
2	Nov 24, 2000	Tokyo DC	Children	University Hospital	Approved	N/A
3	Aug 30, 2001	Tokyo DC	Children	University Hospital	Dismissed	0
4	Feb 5, 2007	Tokyo DC	Spouse	National Hospital	Dismissed	0

Table 2. Main Issues and Reasons for Decisions in Litigation Related to Pathological Autopsies in Japan.

Case no.	Main issues	Summary of courts’ decision on main issues
1	Taking liver specimen from a corpse without informed consent	Acquiring specimens without proper consent was illegal.
2	The scope of informed consent about bone and bone marrow and duty to return specimens to plaintiff	Proper informed consent was not acquired by defendant, who was required to return specimens such as paraffin-embedded tissue blocks to the plaintiff.
3	Same as Case 3	The defendant was not required to obtain specific consent for keeping bone and bone marrow samples beyond the consent to keep “organs.” The proper informed consent existed, and the specimens’ ownership was therefore considered to move from plaintiff to defendant.
4	Misdiagnosis of pathological condition after anatomical autopsy	The final diagnosis after autopsy was correct, and there was no breach of duty by the hospital.