Judges were split Tuesday on two lawsuits filed by former Hansen's disease patients from South Korea and Taiwan -- the South Korean patients were denied compensation while the Taiwanese were awarded it.
In a suit filed by one-time Hansen's disease patients from South Korea, the Tokyo District Court upheld the decision by the health ministry to reject their demand for compensation over the government's past policy of segregating Hansen's patients.
In a separate ruling 30 minutes later, however, a different judge from the same court revoked the administrative decision and ruled that the government must pay compensation to former Hansen's patients from Taiwan.