Article & Journal Resources

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said Sunday that he will submit a lawmaker-initiated bill to the current extraordinary Diet session to pay compensation to all hepatitis C suffers regardless of when they were administered tainted blood products.

Fukuda's decision is a reversal of the government's policy on an out-of-court settlement of damages suits filed by HCV sufferers against the government and drugmakers.

On Thursday, the government proposed a modified settlement, which acknowledges the government's responsibility for HCV infections depending on when patients were given blood products, and also determines the level of compensation on the same basis.

In response to Fukuda's decision, a group of lawyers for the plaintiffs released a statement in which they said: "At long last, politics has come into play. We regard this as a major step forward." The group also asked the prime minister to meet the plaintiffs as soon as possible.

With Sunday's decision, the suits that began in 2002 can move forward to a complete settlement.

Following the prime minister's instructions, policy chiefs and other members of the ruling coalition will hold discussions Tuesday. They will draw up a framework for the bill before year-end and call upon the opposition bloc to jointly submit the bill. The opposition parties are expected to accept the request.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, Fukuda said, "The day before yesterday [Friday], I began consultations with members of the Liberal Democratic Party, asking them whether it would be possible to deal with the issue by drafting a bill by legislators, and decided to do so to compensate all the sufferers in a uniform way."

Expressing his intention to submit the bill in the ongoing Diet session, which is due to end Jan. 15, Fukuda sought the opposition bloc's cooperation in devising the bill.

Asked about the central government's responsibility for the infection, Fukuda repeated his stance, saying, "The responsibility of the government, which holds responsibility for approving drugs, cannot be avoided."

As for why he changed the government's policy on the settlement issue, Fukuda explained: "We realized that the issue couldn't be solved within the framework of the judicial and administrative systems. As a result, I concluded that we would never get a solution unless we came up with a new approach."

Speaking at a press conference in Fukuoka, Michiko Yamaguchi, 51, who represents the plaintiffs, said: "I hope justice will be done using the power of politics. But we've been messed around by politics so many times that I can't relax yet."

Under the new bill, all those infected with hepatitis C due to treatment with tainted fibrinogen and other products will receive compensation in accordance with the severity of their case, regardless of when they were treated with the infected products.

Those who will receive the relief under the bill will likely be approved by a third-party organization of experts or other bodies based on objective information, such as medical records.

Based on past settlement proposals, the compensation is expected to be an average of 20 million yen per person under the new bill. The bill will cover about 1,000 plaintiffs.

In this case, the compensation will total about 20 billion yen, but the government predicts the number of such patients will likely increase further.

Some plaintiffs have demanded that the government accept responsibility for all cases, regardless of time frame, as part of a comprehensive settlement.

The government is determined not to acknowledge legal responsibility for infections caused by tainted blood products administered to patients other than between August 1985 and June 1988--the time frame specified by the Tokyo District Court.

But to show consideration to the plaintiffs, it has shown willingness to accept responsibility for the delay in reaching a solution to the issue in the preamble to the bill.

In devising the bill, acknowledgement of the government's responsibility will become the main focus.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Sunday, Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe said, "Regarding the decision on what kind of responsibility to be mentioned [in the preamble], there are legal, political and moral problems surrounding the issue, so I'd like the ruling bloc to discuss it thoroughly," expressing his intention to leave it to the ruling parties.