March 29,2001 TOKYO (AP) - Tainted blood products used in Japan until 1988 have exposed hundreds of people to hepatitis, the Health Ministry warned Thursday.
The ministry released a list of 803 hospitals that used the products, and urged patients who took them to be tested. The drugs were administered before the approval of heat-treated blood products that eliminate the danger of infection.
Similar tainted blood products were responsible for nearly 2,000 hemophiliacs contracting HIV in the 1980s. Government officials are suspected of having caused the infections by blocking approval for safer drugs in order to allow domestic companies to develop their own products.
After the HIV scandal was exposed, the Health Ministry conducted a survey in 1996 for possible HIV infection from the untreated blood products. However, it has not conducted similar tests for hepatitis until this year.
The ministry said Thursday it believes about 1,000 people received hepatitis tainted blood products between 1972 and 1988. Several hundred of them were believed to have contracted hepatitis B and C.
The viral liver diseases can cause jaundice, fatigue, stomach pain and vomitting, and can lead to cancer. More than 2 million Japanese are believed to have hepatitis C and 1.5 million hepatitis B.
The ministry has set up a telephone hotline to handle inquiries. Free medical checkups will be provided until July 31.
Use of untreated blood products has caused HIV infection among some 1,800 hemophiliacs, including more than 500 who have died of AIDS.
Heat treatment wasn't approved in Japan until 1985, some two years later than the United States.
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
