Haemophiliacs to sue
Article Abstract:
In Japan, the number of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients (AIDS) is much smaller than in the United States. There are 100 patients with AIDS, of which 50 percent are hemophiliacs, patients who are lacking one of the factors necessary for blood clotting. Of the 1,000 known carriers of the AIDS virus, greater than 90 percent are hemophiliacs. Hemophiliacs are often given large amounts of blood to replace blood loss and blood products to provide the clotting factors that they are missing. Seven of these hemophiliacs are suing the Japanese government and the pharmaceutical companies for using blood products imported from the United States that contained the AIDS virus. The blood products were not heat-treated, which would have destroyed the virus. Non-heat-treated products were still used in Japan in 1985, two years after their use was banned in the United States and other Western nations. In Japan, court cases such as this often take 10 to 20 years to be resolved. This is longer than the life expectancy of AIDS patients.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1989
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AIDS advisers disagree over events in HIV blood scandal
Article Abstract:
Three Japanese government advisers on blood products and AIDS express conflicting views regarding the government policy on blood products and the HIV blood scandal in Japan. The head of an AIDS study group, Takeshi Abe, says that the group had an entirely advisory, academic, and scientific purpose without any say in the administration of policy. Atsuaki Gunji says that the study group's purpose was to assess the nature of treatment for haemophiliacs. Juzo Matsuda argues that the decisions of the group culminated in a wider spread of HIV.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1996
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American witnesses testify in Japan about AIDS risks
Article Abstract:
A group of Japanese hemophiliacs is suing five pharmaceutical firms and the government for distributing HIV-contaminated blood. US witnesses have provided dramatic testimony for both sides. Donald Francis, formerly coordinator of the US Center for Disease Control's AIDS laboratory and assistant director of viral diseases, testified that by 1983 the risk posed by untreated blood was clear. Other witnesses claim that the danger was not clear until late 1984.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1993
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