The government will do its utmost to settle a lawsuit by one Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease victim and 19 families of deceased victims who are seeking a total of 1.16 billion yen in compensation from the state and companies involved, the health minister said Tuesday.
"We will do our best to reach a settlement. I don't think the state has a reason (not to pay redress)," Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Chikara Sakaguchi said at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting.
"Additional time is necessary . . . but we are trying to reach a settlement," he said.
Officials of B. Braun Melsungen AG, the German supplier of CJD-tainted human dura mater, separately indicated that the pharmaceutical firm is preparing to accept a court-brokered settlement.
On Friday, the Tokyo and Otsu district courts recommended that the government and the companies involved should jointly pay an average of 60 million yen to each of the plaintiffs.
Of the proposed redress payment of 1.16 billion yen, the court recommended that the state shoulder 14 percent, or 162 million yen, while B. Braun Melsungen and its importer in Japan pay the rest.
The courts found the government responsible for infecting all 20 victims with CJD by allowing transplants of tainted human dura mater during brain surgery, and urged it to pay each plaintiff between 3.5 million yen and 28 million yen. Warnings had been issued overseas about the threat of tainted dura mater, but it continued to be imported into Japan and used in surgery.
The German company is expected to give notice of its response to the proposed settlement as early as today after its board approves it, according to company sources. The state is required to respond to the court by Tuesday.
CJD is an incurable fatal brain disorder. It typically leads to death in one or two years.