Under the knife
BURDENED with a population that is ageing quickly, eating badly, smoking too much, not taking enough exercise and suffering the consequences, Japan's national health service is wobbling on the brink of bankruptcy. The companies that supply it, by contrast, are in the best of health, fed on a nourishing diet of over-generous reimbursements. At long last the government is doing something to curb costs; and medical suppliers are having to find new ways of doing business.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Under the knife”
From the September 13th 1997 edition
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