Three former Japan Dental Association executives pleaded guilty Monday to bribing and entertaining two members of a health ministry advisory panel between 2001 and 2003 to pressure them into helping raise the fees patients pay to dentists.
Another former association executive postponed entering a plea until the next trial session, and the former chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Dental Association pleaded innocent.
During the opening session of his Tokyo District Court trial, former JDA Chairman Sadao Usuda, 73, said that while he owns up to all the charges against him, he believes his efforts to improve the overall position of dentists served to improve the people's dental health.