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Japan to compensate tainted blood victims

Japan's parliament enacted legislation yesterday to compensate patients who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products, as the government sought to quickly respond to mounting calls for a settlement.

The upper house of parliament unanimously passed the bill, which includes a government apology and monetary compensation, following the lower house's approval earlier this week.

The legislation marks a landmark victory in the five-year legal battle of some 200 hepatitis C patients, who had filed lawsuits in five courts, accusing the government of approving the blood products while knowing of their possible dangers.

"The government should acknowledge its responsibility for causing great damage to the patients and failing to prevent the damage from spreading. It should offer a heartfelt apology to the patients and their bereaved families,'' the legislation said.

"I offer my heartfelt apologies to the patients and their bereaved families," Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said in a statement released after the vote.

The blood-clotting agents were administered to stop bleeding during surgery and childbirth from the 1970s to the early 1990s -- infecting possibly thousands more people with hepatitis C, a chronic, potentially lethal blood-borne virus that can cause liver ailments, including cancer and liver failure.

The government is suspected of irresponsibly continuing to approve the products in Japan, long after they were discontinued in the US in 1977 because of the dangers.

Outbreaks in Japan of hepatitis C linked to the administering of such drugs were reported as early as the mid-1980s, and the risks are believed to have been widely known in medical circles.

Under the new law, about 1,000 people with hepatitis C will receive between ?12 million (US$109,450) and ?40 million per person, depending on the severity of their ailments, the Health Ministry said.

The law requires drug makers Nihon Pharmaceutical Co, Mitsubishi Pharma Corp -- now called Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma -- and its subsidiary Benesis Corp to shoulder part of the compensation.

The law, expected to take effect as early as next week, followed the plaintiffs' rejection of a proposed out-of-court settlement.

Late last year, they turned down the offer because it did not include an acknowledgment of government responsibility -- the biggest sticking point in their negotiations with the government.

"Our five-year battle was finally rewarded," said Michiko Yamaguchi, a patient and leader of the plaintiffs nationwide.
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