Japanese Hepatitis B sufferers thought to have caught the disease from repeated use of needles during a vaccination program have agreed to settle a dispute with the state, at a cost of ¥3.2 trillion (US$39 billion).
The decision will bring to an end a series of lawsuits nationwide, but it will give the government a headache as it looks for ways to raise the money, with the possibility it may have to raise taxes.
Tokyo had already expressed a readiness to accept the proposal, bringing to an end the country’s largest medical dispute, which will see it compensate about 430,000 people who were infected with the disease decades ago.
“This is a tough decision, but we decided to accept to end this issue swiftly,” the plaintiffs said in a statement issued on 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 to ¥36 million in damages to each hepatitis B sufferer depending on their health condition.
The court has also proposed that the government pay ¥500,000 each to virus carriers who do not show any symptoms yet.
A total of 630 people have filed damages suits with 10 district courts, arguing that the government should be held responsible for the mass infections as it failed to take necessary measures.
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