Statistic Analysis About the Actual Situation of Crude Drug Prescription Based on the Survey Conducted by the Board of Crude Drug Materials of JSOM / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

The treatment by Kampo decoction is partly covered by National Health Insurance in Japan. However, this system is facing bankruptcy crisis because of rising prices of crude drugs in China, their main producer. The board of crude drug materials of the Japan Society for Oriental Medicine (JSOM) distributed questionnaires to 7416 JSOM member doctors, and performed statistical analysis (with JSOM approval) of 1877 answers to visualize the data. Twenty-six percent of respondents said that they had prescribed a decoction, and 29% of respondents said they had not, but wanted to prescribe a crude drug. Eighty-eight percent of doctors who prescribe decoctions offered medical treatment primarily to insured patients. Nine percent offered medical treatment at patients' own expense. The latter group prescribed decoctions more frequently. Many doctors were aware of the financial risk of prescribing crude drugs imposed by the drug price standard and rising crude drug import prices. Four hundred and fifty­-five doctors explained when they were most inclined to prescribe a decoction. Thirty-five percent of these said they used decoctions when they couldn't treat patients with extracts. This result implies a necessity for decoctions. Many doctors said they prescribed decoctions for autoimmune or allergic diseases. Financial constraints were the most frequently cited barrier to treatment with decoctions. This survey made clear the financial difficulties clinics are facing. We therefore calculated the amount of crude drugs used for decoctions to validate the possibility of their domestic production.