Although there is treatment available to alleviate the pain of cancer patients, some excruciating misconceptions and the ignorance of medical workers are keeping it from widespread use here.
Fumikazu Takeda, the nation's leading specialist in palliative cancer treatment, is trying to change that. He is the nation's most outspoken advocate for the use of morphine for pain-killing.
"The medical climate surrounding cancer pain relief, which started at zero, has improved considerably in this country over the past decade," said Takeda. "But our nation is still far behind other industrialized countries."