Hepatitis B sufferers OK plan to settle suits - JAPAN

[Guest guest]

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110123a4.html

Sunday, Jan. 23, 2011

Hepatitis B sufferers OK plan to settle suits

Kyodo News

Hepatitis B sufferers suing the government decided Saturday to accept a

court-proposed settlement plan on condition the state apologizes and offers them

blanket compensation, they said.

The move will help end a series of damages suits filed nationwide by hepatitis B

patients and virus carriers believed infected by repeated use of needles during

group vaccinations decades ago, as the government has already expressed its

willingness to accept a proposal by the Sapporo District Court that it pay

compensation.

" It was a tough decision, but we decided to accept the proposal to swiftly end

this issue, " the plaintiffs said in a statement issued after meeting in Tokyo.

The government is considering enacting a special law to offer compensation to

all the sufferers, including those not involved in the lawsuits. The group is

estimated to number as many as 440,000 nationwide.

It remains unclear, however, how the government can secure the estimated ¥3.2

trillion needed to provide relief over the next 30 years.

" We have no plans yet at this moment " on how to cover the compensation package,

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture,

where he was visiting. " We are in the final stage of discussions. "

Earlier this month, the Sapporo District Court proposed that the government pay

¥12.5 million to ¥36 million in damages to hepatitis B patients depending on

their condition, as well as ¥500,000 each in compensation plus expenses for

health checkups and transportation to asymptomatic carriers who have not

developed any symptoms.

The vaccination law was put into effect in 1948 with the aim of preventing the

spread of infectious diseases such as diphtheria and tuberculosis, and mass

vaccinations began for children at schools. Needles are believed to have been

used repeatedly until around the 1980s.

In June 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of five plaintiffs infected with

hepatitis B who had filed a damages suit against the state in 1989, recognizing

they contracted the virus through mass vaccinations.

Since the state failed to work out any broad, specific relief measures for

hepatitis B sufferers, however, a total of 630 people since March 2008 filed

suits with 10 district courts across Japan.

------------------------------------------------------

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1106386/1/.html

Asia Pacific News

Japan to pay Hep B " victims " US$39b

Posted: 23 January 2011

TOKYO: Japanese hepatitis B sufferers thought to have caught the disease from

repeated use of needles during a vaccination programme have agreed to settle a

dispute with the state, at the cost of $39 billion.

The decision will bring to an end a series of lawsuits across the country but it

will pose the government with another problem of raising the 3.2 trillion yen,

with some observers saying it may have to raise taxes as a result.

Tokyo had already expressed a readiness to accept the proposal, bringing to an

end the country's largest medical dispute that will see it compensate about

430,000 people infected with the potentially fatal disease during decades ago.

" This is a tough decision, but we decided to accept (the proposal) to end this

issue swiftly, " the plaintiffs said in a statement issued Saturday.

" We demand that the government learn from this lessen and do the best to solve

this problem as soon as possible, " said one of the plaintiffs, Mieko Taniguchi,

adding that the court proposal was not enough to rescue everyone.

Earlier this month, the Sapporo District Court proposed that the government pay

12.5-36 million yen in damages to each hepatitis B patient depending on their

health condition.

The court has also proposed that the government pay 500,000 yen each to virus

carriers who do not show any symptoms yet.

A total of 630 people have filed damages suits with 10 district courts across

Japan, arguing that the government should be held responsible for the mass

infections as it failed to take necessary caution.

-AFP/wk