Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008
Kyodo News

　A bill to provide blanket relief to people with hepatitis C caused by tainted blood products was
submitted Monday to the Diet by the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling coalition.

　The bill is certain to be enacted into law during the ongoing session through Jan. 15 as the opposition
parties are expected to endorse it.

　The move came after victims who have sued the government and drugmakers agreed with the ruling
bloc over the contents of the bill and decided to enter procedures for out-of-court settlements.

　Under the relief bill, people who contracted hepatitis C after being administered with contaminated
blood products such as fibrinogen will receive compensation ranging from ¥12 million to ¥40 million per
person depending on the severity of their disease.

　The preamble of the bill states, "The government should admit its responsibility for causing huge
harm to the victims of the infection and for failing to prevent the harm from spreading, and offer a
heartfelt apology to them."

　The government and drugmakers will set up a fund at the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices
Agency to pay the relief.

　The defendants in the law suits are the government, Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp., its subsidiary,
Benesis Corp., and Nihon Pharmaceutical Co.

　Mitsubishi Tanabe is the successor to defunct blood product maker Green Cross Corp., which made
the tainted fibrinogen that caused a large number of people to contract hepatitis C.

　The lawsuits were filed with five district courts by people who contracted hepatitis C after being
administered with the products to stop bleeding during operations or childbirths from around 1970 to
the early 1990s. The combined number of plaintiffs is about 200.