Injured man dies after rejection by 14 Japanese hospitals

AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, February 4, 2009

A 69-year-old Japanese man injured in a traffic accident died after paramedics spent more than an hour negotiating with 14 hospitals before finding one to admit him. The man, whose bicycle collided with a motorcycle, waited at the scene in an ambulance because the hospitals said they could not accept him, citing a lack of specialists, equipment, beds, and staff. It was the latest in a string of recent cases in Japan in which patients were denied treatment, underscoring the country's healthcare woes that include a shortage of doctors.