What does the government decide so that drugs can be used safely?
Drugs are controlled by laws set by the government.
Because drugs are directly put into or applied to the human body, they are strictly controlled by the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (Yakki Hou), a national law concerning pharmaceuticals. In Japan, the government (the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare and prefectural governors) conducts inspections regarding quality, efficacy, and safety, and only products that have passed these inspections are sold. Only those products that have passed the quality, efficacy, and safety examinations are marketed in Japan.