received phone calls from a young physician in the Department of Urology. He asked them for permission to perform a kidney transplant. The prospective donor was a 46-year-old man who had recently suffered an attack of brain apoplexy while vacationing in Morioka city. At that time he was considered brain dead and his family was willing to donate his kidney to an eligible recipient. Since the young physician and his colleagues received the family's permission, they hastily proceeded to admit the recipient and began to make preparations for the transplant operation.
However, it turned out that they could not operate, since it was impossible to obtain consensus concerning; [1] Who had the authority to declare the donor dead? [2] Who should take responsibility for the entire surgical process of transplantation? There was (and still is) in Japan serious controversy concerning the status of brain death. Indeed, the significance of brain death was under investigation by the Japanese Ministry of Public Welfare.
Moreover, there was no mechanism available to the Administrators of the University to make such a determination. In spite of the efforts of the medical staff, the operation was cancelled.
However, this episode served as an opportunity to organize an ethics committee at Iwate Medical University. Following this situation, the faculty agreed to establish an ethics committee, and on November 24, 1988, the Ethics Committee (EC) of Iwate Medical University was established. The EC consists of 11 members: The Dean of the Medical School, the President of the University Hospital, 7 Department chairmen in the medical school (5 from clinical departments and 2 from the basic science departments), and 2 learned and experienced members from outside the University.