Plaintiffs in hepatitis C lawsuits demand relief for all victims

   Plaintiffs in drug-induced hepatitis C lawsuits on December 10 carried out actions demanding that Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo make a political decision to solve the issue once and for all by providing relief for all hepatitis C patients infected through tainted blood products.

   They made representations at the prime minister’s official residence with the hope of meeting Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo. However, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Ono Matsushige told them that the prime minister was too busy to meet with them. Ono said he could not promise that the prime minister will give the plaintiffs an answer to their message.

   At a press conference later in the day, plaintiffs’ group representative Yamaguchi Michiko, 51, said in tears, “We believed that the prime minister would make a political decision. He betrayed us. We can expect nothing from his cabinet.”

   Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira and other JCP Dietmembers took part in the rally in front of the prime minister’s office and encouraged the participants.

   In a House of Councilors Audit Committee meeting on the same day, JCP representative Nihi Sohei said that plaintiffs in the hepatitis C lawsuits across the country are converging in front of the prime minister’s office demanding a meeting with Fukuda. “You should meet with them and make a decision to provide equal relief for all hepatitis C victims,” Nihi said to the prime minister.

   The prime minister, however, only said that he will deal with the issue by responding to a settlement plan that the Osaka High Court will make public on December 13. “Only when you face up to the reality of damages that victims have suffered, you can make a political decision,” Nihi stressed.

   The plaintiffs in their meeting on December 9 decided that they will refuse to accept the Osaka High Court’s settlement proposal if it limits who will be eligible for government relief.
- Akahata, December 11, 2007