| SCOJ 2005 No. 947 (平成17(あ)947) | |
|---|---|
| Court | Supreme Court of Japan (Second Petty Bench) |
| Full case name | HIV-Tainted Blood Case (業務上過失致死被告事件) |
| Decided | March 3, 2008 |
| Reported at | Not Yet Published |
| Holding | |
| It was recognized that the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Pharmaceuticals Affair Bureau Section Chief of Biologics, who was responsible for prevention of harm by medicine, committed professional negligence that resulted in death. He neglected his essential duty to thoroughly administer pharmaceutical practice in a case where a patient developed AIDS and died after being given HIV-tainted blood products. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice | Yuuki Furuta (古田佑紀) |
| Associate Justice | Osamu Tsuno (津野修), Isao Imai (今井功), Mutsuo Tahara (田原睦夫), Nakagawa Ryouji (中川了滋) |
The HIV-Tainted Blood Case (業務上過失致死被告事件) is a Supreme Court of Japan case that resulted in a landmark decision regarding criminal responsibility for administrative negligence. The Court upheld the conviction of Akihito Matsumura, former director of the biologics division of the old Health and Welfare Ministry, for his failure to prevent the use of HIV-contaminated blood products in the 1980s that resulted in the death of a patient.[1] According to the two lower court rulings, Matsumura caused the death of a patient with liver disease in December 1995 by failing to stop the use of unheated blood products contaminated with HIV. The decision marks the first time that a government official has been held criminally responsible for administrative negligence.[1] The decision finalized a verdict of 1 year in prison, suspended for two years, for Matsumura.[2]