”Our goal is to respect cultural values without making them unconditionally paramount,” said Tsutomu Sawai, a Hiroshima University professor (special recognition) and author of the study. “When families face a child’s serious illness, cultural expectations around parental devotion can create moral vulnerability. We must protect these values from becoming tools for exploitation.”

The essay examines how cultural concepts, such as jeong (profound family devotion) in Korea and akiramenai (never giving up) in Japan, influence parents’ willingness to pursue treatments with little scientific evidence. In the Korean case, an entire family became research participants in a fabricated stem cell study, driven by cultural obligations to pursue even the slightest possibility of a cure. The child’s father even served on the institutional review board approving the study, while the mother donated her eggs, contributions that were used to bolster the credibility of what later proved to be fraudulent research.

Regarding the Japan case, parents donated and stored umbilical cord blood based on misleading claims about treating conditions like autism and cerebral palsy. Until recently, private umbilical cord blood banks operated largely without regulation, with some clinics and commercial entities promoting unproven applications. A 2017 scandal involving the illegal administration of umbilical cord blood led to legal reforms, yet advocacy for these unproven treatments continued even after the misconduct became public.

While the societal values considered reflect genuine moral commitments, the authors argue that ethical deliberation must go beyond calculating risks and benefits for the patient. Clinicians must ensure parents are not operating under therapeutic misconception, recognize how cultural norms can silence doubt, and remain sensitive to how deeply rooted virtues can create moral vulnerability. These concerns are especially pertinent to parents who almost universally prioritize their child’s health over all else.