Gathering Marks 30 Years since HIV-Tainted Blood Case Settlement

Tokyo, March 14 (Jiji Press)–A gathering was held in Tokyo on Saturday ahead of the 30th anniversary of the settlement reached in high-profile lawsuits filed by hemophilia patients who were treated with HIV-tainted unheated blood products. The lawsuits were filed in Tokyo and Osaka in 1989, targeting a drugmaker that made the blood products and the Japanese government. The settlement was reached March 29, 1996. At the gathering, a total of about 320 people, including surviving victims and bereaved relatives, laid flowers and prayed for more than 700 patients who died due to their HIV infections caused by the tainted blood products. “We are resolved to make our best efforts to ensure the safety and effectiveness (of drugs) so that the tragedy will not be forgotten and a similar thing will never happen again,” health minister Kenichiro Ueno said. Tomomi Goto, 53, who served as head of the plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit in Tokyo, said that it is necessary to review existing relief measures for surviving victims because there are problems in terms of social welfare. Takashi Sato, who lost his 17-year-old son after the settlement, expressed his grief, saying, “Even after 30 years, I still feel furious at the fact that the medicine that must protect life deprived my son of his future.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]