Posted by Tomokazu Ise on November 30, 1997 at 21:10:13:
On November 30, a Japanese newspaper reported that some medical staffs in National Circulatory Organs Center of Japan extracted pancreas from corpses without getting the permission of the ethical (moral?) committee. In Japan, any medical staff who is planning to make transplantation should get the approval of the ethical committee in advance. But the staffs made the extraction without the approval and requested it AFTER finishing the operation. And to our astonishment, the committee permitted it RETROSPECTIVELY. Both the medical staffs and the committee were accused in the newspaper. The medical staffs extracted the islets from the pancreas and encapsulated them for transplantation to some diabetics.
Why did they stick to human pancreas? Pig pancreas is safe enough for the transplantation, isn't it? In Japan, many pigs are bred under very clean conditions in order to get virus free pork. The pork is for "Shabu-Shabu", a Japanese cuisine where we dip very thinly sliced beef or pork into boiling water just a few seconds. So, virus free pig pancreas must be easily obtained in Japan. I think Japanese medical staffs should concentrate on using pig pancreas because there are so many problems in getting human pancreas.