A protracted legal battle for people who contracted hepatitis C through tainted blood products ended Jan. 15 with the signing of a basic accord by the state and lawyers representing the plaintiffs, setting the stage for lawsuits across Japan to be settled out of court.

A plaintiff representing people who contracted hepatitis C smiles in Tokyo on Jan. 11. KYODO PHOTO

The basic agreement is based on a law enacted Jan. 11 to offer blanket relief to those who got infected with the liver illness through contaminated blood products such as fibrinogen, which were administered to stop bleeding.

Pending lawsuits at five district courts and five high courts across the country will go into settlement procedures based on the accord.

Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe and the lawyers signed the agreement. About 100 plaintiffs then met Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda at the Prime Minister's Office.

Fukuda and Masuzoe offered fresh apologies and recognized the state's responsibility again for the plaintiffs' sufferings.

Fukuda said Jan. 11, "We must admit the state's responsibility for causing huge harm to the victims and for failing to prevent the damage from spreading. I express my apologies from the bottom of my heart."

The basic agreement will require the government to accept responsibility and offer its apologies, pay subsidies to the patients, and set up a third-party panel to re-examine the infection problem. The health ministry will also hold regular meetings with the patients.

Under the new law, victims will receive compensation ranging from ¥12 million to ¥14 million, depending on the severity of their conditions.