1 dead, 2 in critical condition after possible chemo errors at Japan children’s hospital
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TOKYO – One leukaemia patient died and two others remain in critical condition after undergoing chemotherapy injections, a children’s hospital near Tokyo said on March 11.
The Saitama Prefectural Children’s Medical Center in Saitama reported the cases to police on March 10 after finding in the patients’ spinal fluid a cancer drug that should not have been used in bone marrow cavity injections, it said.
The drug is suspected of causing serious harm to the patients, all three males under the age of 20, including one younger than 10.
After receiving the injections between January and October 2025, one patient died in February 2026, while the two others, including the youngest, remain in critical condition and unconscious, according to the hospital.
The drug, vincristine, is used in intravenous injections but not marrow cavity injections because of the known risk of neurological complications, the hospital said. KYODO NEWS
