Misako Yamashita

It is the first court ruling to recognize medical malpractice at the government-run sanitariums, which were operated under a segregation policy.

According to the court, the woman, who has been using the pseudonym Misako Yamashita in the lawsuit process, was diagnosed with Hansen's disease in 1953.

Although at one point she tested negative for the bacteria, her condition worsened in 1981.

For 11 years she received medical treatment -- mainly steroids and immunosuppressants -- at a sanitarium in Higashi-Murayama, western Tokyo.

However, her condition failed to improve and the treatment instead left her with a disfigured face and hands and feet, and sensory damage, the court said.

In handing down the ruling, presiding Judge Yoichi Sato recognized negligence on the part of the doctors involved, saying the sanitarium's failure to conduct a swift bacteria test to check for a recurrence of the disease and administer medication properly "was tantamount to an abandoning of treatment."

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 5, 2005
(C) All rights reserved