MSNBC
Thousands of elderly or ill patients without their lifesaving medicines
By JAY ALABASTER
The Associated Press 
updated 3/14/2011 9:39:15 AM ET 2011-03-14T13:39:15
TAKAJO, Japan — "Within the dark and fetid wards of the Senen General Hospital, some 120 patients lie in their beds or slumped in wheelchairs, moaning incoherently.
"There is no food!" cries an old man in a blue gown, to no one in particular.
Last week's powerful earthquake and tsunami heaped untold new misery on those already suffering — thousands of elderly, infirm and sick people in hospitals that were laid to waste by the violent shaking and the walls of water that followed. There are no figures yet on how many hospitals were ravaged, but few could have escaped unscathed given the scale of the destruction.
Sam Taylor, the spokesman for Doctors Without Borders, an international group that has sent a team to Japan, said there were longer-term concerns about the elderly, many of whom are fragile and may be living on little food and water without their lifesaving medicines.
- "They have some medicines for the immediate future, but in the coming weeks that's when it really could become an issue," he said.
Disaster at a glance
-
Size, magnitude
A massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake — fifth largest since 1900 — struck at 2:46 p.m. local time Friday (12:46 a.m. ET), centered approximately 100 miles east of Sendai city on Japan’s main island, Honshu.Tsunami
The quake generated a tsunami of at least 23 feet that swept boats, cars, buildings and tons of debris miles inland in Japan. Smaller swells struck other Pacific Rim countries and even the United States, causing serious but far less extensive damage.Casualties
The death toll from last week's earthquake and tsunami jumped Tuesday as police confirmed the number killed had topped 2,400. Officials have said previously that at least 10,000 people may have died in Miyagi province alone.Nuclear plants
The fuel rods at three nuclear reactors at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant are believed to be in various stages of melting; authorities have ordered the evacuation of a 12.4-mile radius around the plant.Other impacts
Transportation and communications systems were largely paralyzed and large swaths of the country remain without power; the Tokyo Electric Power Co. is imposing rolling blackouts in areas that do have power to ensure it can meet demand. Some commodities, including gas, are scarce.
Senen General Hospital in Takajo town, near Miyagi prefecture's capital of Sendai, had about 200 patients when the earthquake hit, tossing its medical equipment around and collapsing part of the ceiling in one wing.
All of its food and medicine was stored on the first floor. Everything was ruined or lost in the 30 minutes when Takajo, a small town of about 12,000, was flooded by the tsunami.
"We're only administering the bare necessities," said administrator Ryoichi Hashiguchi." Read More
Recent Comments