埼玉医大がSRSを無期限中止 / Japan's Saitama Med indefinitely suspends all SRSs 2

性別適合手術：埼玉医科大が一時中止決定　担当教授定年で
毎日新聞 2007/05/14

　心と体の性の不一致に悩む性同一性障害（ＧＩＤ）の患者に性別適合手術を行ってきた埼玉医科大（埼玉県毛呂山町、山内俊雄学長）が１４日までに、「チーム医療の体制を整える必要がある」として同手術の一時中止を決めた。担当教授の定年が直接の理由で、１０月までに予定していた患者約３０人の手術はキャンセルされた。同大は「スタッフを補充するなどして、早く再開できるよう努力したい」と説明している。

　同大は９８年、正当な医療行為としては国内で初めて性別適合手術を実施、これまで約３５０例を手がけた。

　同大によると、同手術を担当してきた形成外科教授の原科孝雄氏が３月末で定年を迎えた。原科氏は取材に「定年後は特任教授になり治療を続けるとの約束をほごにされ、大学を辞めることにした」と語った。４月まで手術を行い、その後に予定されていた患者には断りの手紙を出したという。ＧＤＩ患者に対する同大の精神療法やホルモン療法は継続されるという。

　山内学長は「原科先生とは定年後の待遇で意見の相違があった。患者さんに迷惑をかけ申し訳ない。手術は継続する方針。准教授を中心に早期再開に努めたい」と話している。【鈴木賢司】



性転換　埼玉医大が中止　担当の教授定年
2007年5月14日 東京新聞朝刊

　心と体の性が一致しない性同一性障害の治療に積極的な埼玉医大が、担当教授の定年退職などで態勢が取れないとして、性転換手術（性別適合手術）を今月から中止したことが十三日分かった。

　手術は最終的な治療手段とされているが、十月までに予定していた少なくとも三十人の患者はキャンセルとなった。

　埼玉医大は一九九八年に、正当な医療としての性転換手術を国内で初めて実施するなど草分け的存在。国内に一万人以上と推定される患者への影響は大きいとみられ、山内俊雄学長は「准教授を中心に、なるべく早く再開したい」としている。

　三月末まで形成外科の教授として担当してきた原科（はらしな）孝雄氏によると、定年後も特任教授として治療を続ける約束が大学側とあったが「三月末にほごにされた」。四月分の患者の治療を終えて大学を去り、予定が入っていたほかの患者には断りの手紙を出した。山内学長は「客員教授で残ってもらうつもりだったが、折り合いがつかなかった」と説明。形成外科ではほかにも、スタッフが体調を崩すなどで手術態勢が取れなくなっているという。

　原科氏によると、埼玉医大では性器形成や乳房切除などの手術を三百五十例以上実施。性転換手術は、日本精神神経学会が九七年に指針を作って容認し岡山大、札幌医大なども取り組んでいる。


Saitama Medical Univ. stops sex-change ops from May
Sunday May 13, 2007

(Kyodo) _ Saitama Medical University says it has stopped conducting sex change operations for those who suffer from gender identity disorder since the start of this month after a professor in charge of them retired.
At least 30 patients were to receive the surgeries at the private medical school by October, but the schedules were forced to be canceled.

Saitama Medical University is the nation's pioneer having provided sex-change operations since 1998 as legitimate medical procedures.

While there are believed to be more than 10,000 GID patients in Japan, Toshio Yamauchi, the university president, said Sunday, "We want to resume the practice as soon as possible."

Takao Harashina, who was in charge of the operations until the end of March as head of the plastic surgery department, had agreed with the university that he would continue to provide the operations as a specially appointed professor after his retirement, but the university "reneged on the promise at the end of March," he said.

Harashina said he managed to perform surgeries on the patients who had booked the operations for the month of April before leaving the school.

"We were going to ask him to stay as a visiting professor, but we could not come to an agreement with him," said Yamauchi. He added that the department has not been able to provide surgeries because a staff member has had health problems in addition to Harashina's retirement.

The university has performed over 350 sex-change surgeries to date, including the formation of sex organs and the removal of breasts, according to Harashina.

The Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology approved the practice after setting guidelines in 1997. Schools offering the operations include Okayama University and Sapporo Medical University.


Saitama Medical University stops sex-change operations
05/14/2007
BY KANAKO IDA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Japan's leading hospital in sex-change operations has stopped offering its services, leaving a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the treatment of patients suffering from gender identity disorder.

Saitama Medical University called a halt to the operations after professor Takao Harashina, a surgeon specializing in plastic surgery, retired at the end of April.

University President Toshio Yamauchi said it had become impossible to assemble a team of experienced doctors to perform sex-change operations.

Gender identity disorder, the condition in which people do not identify with the sex they were born with, is slowly beginning to win social recognition in Japan.

The suspension of operations at Saitama Medical University could jeopardize the hopes for the treatment of the nation's estimated 10,000 patients, experts say.

The university's plastic surgery department has canceled the nearly 60 sex-change operations it was scheduled to perform between May and October.

Yamauchi said the university hopes to resume sex-change operations as early as possible, emphasizing that its policy to offer the medical treatment remains unchanged.

Three years ago, it became possible for people diagnosed with the condition to change their sex on family registers by applying to family courts.

Applicants must undergo sex-change operations and fulfill other conditions before applying for the changes to registers.

Several other universities, including Okayama University and Kansai Medical University, perform sex-change operations, but the number of operations carried out by those institutions is limited.

The change from woman to man is particularly difficult. The procedure requires advanced technology and experience, experts noted.

Saitama Medical University carried out the nation's first legal sex-change operation in 1998.

The treatment of people suffering from gender identity disorder was formally introduced after the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology compiled guidelines in 1997.

The guidelines call for patients to first receive psychotherapeutic and hormone treatment and, when necessary, to undergo sex-change operations.

So far, 357 patients suffering from gender identity disorder have undergone sex-change operations at Saitama Medical University, according to Harashina.

About 60 percent have undergone relatively simple operations to remove their breasts.

But 21 people have had male sex organs attached.

Toshiyuki Oshima, director of the Japanese Society of Gender Identity Disorder, said Japan should have its own treatment center for patients.

Oshima, a professor at Kyushu International University, said doctors who can perform sex-change operations are limited. He also noted that such operations are not covered by medical insurance.

Operations done overseas can involve considerable difficulties due to language problems as well as issues during post-operation medical care, he added.(IHT/Asahi: May 14,2007)


埼玉医科大、教授の定年で性転換手術を一時的に中止
5月14日12時8分配信 読売新聞

　「性同一性障害」の治療の一環として、多くの性転換（性別適合）手術を実施してきた埼玉医科大（埼玉県毛呂山町）が、担当教授の定年退職により、執刀医師がそろわないなどとして手術を一時的に中止していたことが１４日、わかった。

　９月までに手術の予定を入れていた患者には手紙でキャンセルを伝えたという。

　同医科大は１９９８年、男性への性転換を望む女性に、正式な医療行為としては国内初の性転換手術を実施した。その後、３００人を超える乳房切除や性器形成などの手術を行っている。

　同医科大では、性転換手術を担当していた原科（はらしな）孝雄医師（形成外科教授）が今年３月末で定年。技術を受け継ぐスタッフが十分ではなく、チーム医療態勢が取れないことなどを理由に、４月末で手術を中止した。

最終更新:5月14日12時8分


埼玉医大がSRSを中止 / Japan's Saitama Med cancelled all SRSs