A former Tokyo hospital director was given a suspended prison term Thursday for trying to cover up the cause of death of a patient in 1999 who was administered a drip containing disinfectant.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced Kiyoshi Okai, 65, former director of the Tokyo Municipal Hiroo Hospital, to one year in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Medical Practitioners' Law and forging official documents.
He was also fined 20,000 yen.
In handing down the decision in the malpractice suit, Judge Massazo Ogura said that Okai attempted to cover up the incident for fear of possible repercussions, including social criticism of the hospital.
Nurses at the hospital had informed Okai that the administration of a disinfectant drip was believed to be responsible for the death of the 58-year-old housewife from Chiba Prefecture.
According to the ruling, two nurses mistakenly administered a disinfectant drip to Etsuko Nagai, an inpatient at the hospital, on the morning of Feb. 11, 1999, resulting in her death.
Both nurses have already been convicted.
Although Okai was made aware of the death, he neglected to inform local police within 24 hours, a procedure required under the Medical Practitioners' Law, the ruling said. Okai also produced a death certificate stating a false cause of death and handed it to the deceased woman's family, it said.