The government was informed in 1984 of the risk of hepatitis C infection through a number of blood products but failed to take action to regulate their use in Japan for three years, sources said Friday.
The latest revelation confirms suspicions that inaction by the then Health and Welfare Ministry aggravated the spread of diseases among people who were administered the products in the 1980s.
Green Cross Corp., a now-defunct major manufacturer of blood products, reported to the health ministry in 1984 that products similar to its blood-clotting agent fibrinogen had been banned in the United States in 1977 due to the risk of hepatitis infection, the sources said.