When implementing regenerative medicine such as cell transplantation, the law requires that the plan be reviewed by a specialized committee, even if it is performed as a free medical treatment at a private medical institution.
Regarding this committee, there are cases where it seems that a medical consulting company is involved in both the medical institution and the committee that conducts the review, and the results of the survey that there is a possibility that an independent and fair review cannot be expected. Groups such as the Cancer Research Center made presentations.
The survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and was conducted by a group of bioethics researchers and doctors at the National Cancer Center and Kyoto University iPS Cell Research Institute.
According to a paper published in the international scientific journal "Stemcell Reports", the group analyzed about 400 treatment plans that had been reviewed as of 2019, and found that there were enough papers to support safety
. 25.1% of cases were not indicated, and
▽ 30.0% of cases were estimated to be in charge of treatment by doctors who were not in their specialty.
In addition, there are cases in which the medical consulting company seems to have been involved in both the operation of the review committee and the preparation of the treatment plan for the medical institution receiving the review, and it is feared that an independent and fair review cannot be expected.
Director of Bioethics at the National Cancer Center, Kuni Ichika, said, "It's important to review the fundamentals of review committees so that they can maintain their independence and fairness."