A medical clinic in Tokyo is under fire for a patient intake questionnaire that a Chinese patient says reeks of discrimination. The clinic, however, insists it’s appropriate and will keep using it.
The incident occurred when a 14-year-old Chinese resident went to the clinic with a soccer injury. The new patient was handed an intake form that also included a questionnaire with eight detailed questions. Some of the questions include:
“Do you promise not to cause a commotion or leave without paying if today’s treatment isn’t to your satisfaction?”
“Are you free of selfish thoughts, i.e., that you’re so busy today that you have the right to skip the queue and to be seen before others?”
“Are you thinking of not using the medication you receive as instructed and instead selling it to others?”
The young man’s lawyer claims that the clinic’s actions amount to “discrimination against Chinese people.” The form, which the clinic hand out primarily to people who can’t speak Japanese or English, assumes that foreigners will cause trouble. The boy’s father expressed “sadness” more than anger, saying he never felt any prejudice from staff at the hospital that runs the clinic.
For its part, the clinic told one news source, Ben54, that it has equivalent forms in English and Korean and denied it hands the forms out “blindly.” It insists the form is appropriate as a test of “basic language ability and character” and says it only requests them from around 5% of foreign patients.
The clinic insists it’s trying to do the best it can for its patients by creating a safe environment for everyone. It’s also responding to a marked increase in foreign patients due to the rush of tourism to Japan as well as the rising resident foreigner population.
However, some experts say this method of “filtering,” as the clinic puts it, could violate Japanese law. Specifically, it may violate Amendment 19 of the Medical Practitioners’ Act (医師法; ishihou), which prevents denying medical services “without a suitable reason.” Experts say that the number of “suitable reasons” recognized by the law and courts is extremely limited.
An Abema News panel on the subject had several guests and experts toss in their two cents about whether the clinic’s actions amounted to discrimination. Fukujima Jun, a Japanese-African entertainer, said he’s never received such treatment at a hospital here. But as someone who’s faced prejudice as a Black man in Japan, he understands how the family feels.
“Don’t do a survey, put up a poster instead,” he suggested, “where everyone can see it. If you do a survey, don’t hand it out just to Chinese people, give one to every foreigner. There have to be other options.”
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