According to the head of the Imizu City Hospital, Hidetsugu Asanoi, the 50-year-old surgeon said he removed the respirators of the seven, five of whom suffered from cancer, with the consent of their families but not of the patients.

"Although I don't know if (the surgeon's actions) constitute criminal acts, I feel they were morally problematic," Asanoi said at a news conference.

The surgeon has said he removed the respirators for the sake of the patients and that their deaths were "dignified," according to Asanoi.

The four men and three women were aged from about 50 to over 90, he said.

Based on a 1995 Yokohama District Court ruling, euthanasia through medication or other acts by doctors is deemed legal in Japan only if four conditions are met -- the patient's death is imminent, there is unendurable pain, there is no other way to remove or alleviate pain, and the patient wishes to be euthanized.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 1, 2006
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