EDITORIAL: Hepatitis B damage suits

Relief must be given as soon as possible to those people who were wrongly infected with the hepatitis B virus. Many of these people were infected as children through mass vaccinations in which needles were used repeatedly.

At 10 district courts around the nation, 420 people, including many who now suffer from hepatitis B, are suing the government for compensation. The district courts in Sapporo and Fukuoka in March urged the plaintiffs and government to enter settlement talks. The government has decided to comply. It must start negotiating with the plaintiffs.

The risk of infection from reused vaccination needles was long known to the government, but it did virtually nothing to prevent such infections until 1988, when it finally issued a directive urging the use of a fresh needle and syringe for each person.

In a damages suit brought by five persons, including one who had not developed hepatitis symptoms, the Supreme Court in 2006 held the government responsible for the infections caused by reused needles in group vaccinations. The top court ordered the government to pay 5.5 million yen to each plaintiff. A basic law on measures to deal with hepatitis, which came into effect in January, says in reference to hepatitis B infections through vaccinations: "The final judicial decision has confirmed the government's responsibility."

People who were infected in this way were completely blameless, and yet they are now at risk of developing cirrhosis or cancer of the liver. Some, in fact, are already dead or dying. In negotiating with these people or their families, the government must fully understand how much pain and anger they suffer.

The settlement negotiations will focus on the standards for determining eligibility for government relief and how much each person should receive in lump-sum payment.

Patients' vaccination records can be checked in their boshi techo (mother-child health handbook), which are issued by local governments to all expectant mothers. But many patients no longer have their handbooks as their vaccinations were done decades ago.

The hepatitis B virus can be passed on from mother to infant. If this was not how a person was infected, the likelihood is high that the person's infection was caused by a reused vaccination needle.

However, if the patient's mother has already died, it is difficult to rule out a mother-to-child transmission.

The 420 plaintiffs are demanding that government relief be extended broadly among hepatitis B patients and carriers, excluding those infected through mother-to-child transmission, who were under 6 years of age during the period from 1948, when group vaccinations for children became a requirement, until 1988.

As for the amount of damages, the plaintiffs demand something similar to the lump-sum payments that were awarded in recent years to victims of hepatitis C infection through tainted blood products. Hepatitis C sufferers were paid between 12 million yen ($129,000) and 40 million yen, depending on each individual's situation.

Nationwide, there are about 90,000 hepatitis B patients, with an estimated 1 million to 1.3 million carriers. The looser the standards for government relief eligibility, the more compensation the government will have to pay. The government has argued in court in favor of strict standards, which the plaintiffs are not willing to accept.

In recommending settlement talks, the Sapporo District Court urged the government to "consider extending relief broadly," but also stressed the importance of "setting a reasonable level for damage payments."

The negotiations will not be easy. But since the government is tested on how it deals with such matters of life and death, we suggest it do its best to live up to the spirit of the basic law on hepatitis by coming up with comprehensive measures to fight the disease. It must not think only in terms of money.

Efforts to reduce the number of serious cases of hepatitis will result in lower overall health care costs for the disease. This can be achieved through early detection, administering appropriate state-of-the-art treatments and investing in research and development to find more effective treatment methods.

We hope the government and plaintiffs will negotiate patiently until they reach a mutually acceptable agreement.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 11