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Japan's Leader Apologizes For Bad Blood

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 26, 2007

TOKYO - Japan's prime minister apologized Tuesday to four people who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products and promised to enact legislation to compensate them.
Yasuo Fukuda met the hepatitis sufferers at his office. They are among hundreds seeking damages from the government and pharmaceutical companies in the blood products scandal. Part of the meeting was broadcast on television.

"I apologize for the years of indescribable suffering you have gone through," said the prime minister, who has struggled to regain public support after a series of scandals. "The only way to respond to your wishes is to enact legislation, and I'll do my utmost to achieve that goal."

The plaintiffs say they contracted hepatitis C, mainly in the 1980s, from defective blood-clotting agents that the government and the pharmaceutical companies kept using despite knowledge of their potential contamination.

The Associated Press

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