CJD victims call government to account for tainted brain film

About 1,200 people, including patients of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), families, and supporters, on May 27 held a rally in Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture, calling for an early settlement of the question of CJD contaminated products.

CJD is an incurable disease with dementia as its first symptom. The sufferers contracted CJD from polluted dried dura mater used in cerebral surgery. The number of CJD victims is now reportedly 75. The figures will become larger because CJD has a long incubation period and from 40,000 to 50,000 films were allegedly grafted onto patients' brain membranes before the Ministry of Welfare suspended the use of the product in 1997.

In November 1996, for the first time in Japan, a woman patient and her husband filed a lawsuit against the government and a local government, claiming that the authorities neglected to take safety measures even though they knew about the danger. Tani Takako was infected with CJD when she had a brain operation at Otsu City Hospital in 1989.

There are two CJD lawsuits, one in the Ostu District Court and another in Tokyo (filed in November 1997). The number of plaintiffs has increased to 20 families. The Otsu District Court will conclude the case in July.

Nakajima Akira, the lawyers' group for the plaintiffs said, "We should never repeat the tragedy from tainted drugs. The court must convict the government, the ministry, and pharmaceutical companies for criminal negligence."

Ryuhei Kawada, who led the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) court struggle as one of the victims of HIV infection through contaminated blood products, also took part in the rally. (end)