Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 6 Oct 1995
In the suits filed in 1989, the haemophiliacs sought compensation from the state and five pharmaceutical companies after becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, through the tainted blood products.
The Tokyo District Court and Osaka District Court recommended a compromise calling for the state and the companies to pay $450,000 to each plaintiff, the officials said.
It was the largest compensation ever ordered paid in a drug-related lawsuit in Japan.
The compromise ordered the government to pay 40 percent of the compensation to acknowledge its responsibility for failing to take swift action, the official said. The firms were to pay the rest.
The defendants were Green Cross, Chemo Sero Therapeutic Research Institute, Baxter Ltd, an arm of Baxter International Inc, and Bayer Yakuhin Ltd, an arm of Bayer AG, and Nippon Zoki Pharmaceutical Co.
"We intend to respond to the ruling with sincerity," said a Green Cross spokesman.
Officials from Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's administration were to discuss the government response next week.
The plaintiffs had demanded $1.15 million each. Of the original 219 plaintiffs, 91 have died.
The plaintiffs and their lawyers welcomed the decision, but urged to the government to issue a prompt apology.
Japanese authorities were slow in grappling with the issue of AIDS, which was initially widely seen as a disease that afflicted foreigners.
Lawyers and AIDS activists said the government and pharmaceutical companies failed to take action after the dangers of contracting HIV through contaminated blood products began to be publicised in the United States in the early 1980s.
The Health and Welfare Ministry had said that at the time there was no proof imported blood products were the cause of HIV contamination among hemophiliacs, and that it could not be held responsible.
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