Japan - Govt to accept responsibility for hepatitis B infections

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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110624006008.htm

Govt to accept responsibility for hepatitis B infections

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government will acknowledge responsibility for hepatitis B infections caused

by the reuse of syringes in group vaccinations of infants and children over a

period of many years ending in the 1980s, when it formally settles lawsuits next

week.

The acknowledgement is stipulated in a basic agreement confirmed Friday by the

government and plaintiffs during settlement talks at the Sapporo District Court.

The agreement is set to be signed by the two sides Tuesday at the health

ministry, according to sources.

The agreement includes a government apology and stipulates the establishment of

a third-party panel to investigate the cause of the problem and a council for

discussing long-term relief for the victims.

Patients and bereaved family members of victims who were infected filed lawsuits

against the government at 10 district courts across the nation, and are now in

the settlement process.

The two sides agreed that Prime Minister Naoto Kan will apologize in front of

about 100 concerned people, including the plaintiffs, at the Prime Minister's

Office after a signing ceremony at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on

Tuesday.

One of the nation's largest-ever court battles over improper medical treatment

is entering the final stage, observers said.

In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that the government was responsible for the

infections and ordered it to compensate a group of plaintiffs.

But the government failed to provide long-term relief for the victims after the

ruling. About 730 patients and other concerned people subsequently filed the

lawsuits at 10 district courts, demanding compensation from the state.

In May last year, settlement negotiations started at the Sapporo District Court.

This year, the two sides agreed on who was eligible for relief and on the size

of the settlements.

The basic agreement states that the repeated use of the same syringes worsened

the overall health of victims, and that the government had not implemented

relief measures even after the 2006 top court ruling finally concluded that the

government was responsible.

The agreement also includes criteria for people to be covered by relief

measures, and the size of the settlements, ranging from 500,000 yen to 36

million yen depending on the extent of damage caused by the infection to the

victim's health.

The state's apology stipulates that victims' health was seriously damaged and

that the government is responsible for failing to prevent the damage caused by

the virus infection from worsening.

The new third-party panel will have scholars and other experts investigate the

route through which the use of the same needles caused the hepatitis B

infections.

Plaintiffs and other patients will also participate in the council to discuss

how to provide relief such as medical care to victims not covered by the court

settlements.

More details of the agreement will be made public after the signing ceremony

Tuesday afternoon. Settlement procedures for individual plaintiffs will then

start under the written agreement.

The government will submit a bill to create a special law to decide on the

framework of relief measures for victims other than the plaintiffs as early as

this autumn, sources said.

According to an estimate by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, up to

400,000 people could be eligible for the relief measures, and the government

will need to spend about 3.2 trillion yen to implement them.

How the government will procure the funds is likely to become a focus of

attention.

In the next five years alone, the government will need to come up with 1.1

trillion yen for the scheme.

In a draft budget for the next fiscal year, the first year of the relief

program, the government will likely earmark about 200 billion yen.

(Jun. 25, 2011)