Japan seeks advice on HIV litigation process

Despite a stronger record in convicting wrongdoers, Japan is looking to Ireland as a role model for dealing with cases of HIV and hepatitis C blood contamination.

Ten Japanese lawyers, representing people infected through blood and blood products have travelled to Dublin to meet solicitors acting for the Irish Haemophilia Society to get advice on the Irish experience of litigation.

Ms Masami Kobayashi, a spokeswoman for the group, said the reasons for the infections had yet to be fully explained and, thus, an inquiry in Japan like the Lindsay tribunal "would be a dream come true" for native haemophiliacs.

She stressed neither the lawyers nor their clients were "looking for money".

Rather, those infected wished "to understand what happened so they can be better positioned for treatment", and also to guard against future contamination scandals.

"There are a lot of mysteries still, a lot of things the government did not disclose very honestly. We don't know in what way political pressure worked, in what way pharmaceutical companies may have used their leverage over political parties, how the government helped private companies to get out of this difficulty. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence but we can't pinpoint exactly what happened," she said.

The lawyers held a weekend meeting with Malcomson Law, which offered advice on dealing with complex infection cases, including identifying dates of infection and collating international evidence on viral infectivity.

Solicitor Mr Raymond Bradley noted the Japanese lawyers were at the same starting point in the litigation process as their Irish counterparts in 1994 when the Anti-D scandal broke. The Japanese were, however, "significantly" ahead in terms of criminal prosecutions.

In February 2000, prison sentences were handed down by the Osaka District Court to three former executives of defunct blood product maker Green Cross Corp for the sale of HIV-tainted blood products. The following year, Japan's top haemophilia specialist Takeshi Abe was tried but acquitted for involvement in the episode.