Over 70% of hospitals fail to perform autopsy in infant death cases

The health ministry said Monday in a survey that 74% of hospitals in Japan have ignored a ministry guideline requiring them to perform an autopsy on babies when concluding their deaths were caused by sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. The guideline was compiled and disclosed by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry in April 2005 to prevent doctors from overlooking abuse or suffocation in babies' sudden deaths.

The guideline stipulates that if an autopsy is not performed, the cause of death must be filed as "unknown." But a majority of the hospitals surveyed have continued to diagnose deaths as caused by SIDS without autopsies. Some parents who lost their children at nursery schools and hospitals argue that the syndrome has been used to hide inadequate nursing or care provided at the facilities.