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TOKYO
(AP) Tainted blood products used in Japan until 1988 may
have exposed hundreds of people to hepatitis, the Health
Ministry said 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 in Japan contracting HIV in the 1980s. Government
officials are suspected of contributing to the infections
by blocking approval for safer drugs to allow domestic companies
to develop their own products.
After
the HIV scandal broke, the Health Ministry in 1996 tested
for possible HIV infection from the untreated blood products.
However, it did not conduct 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 vomiting, and can lead to cancer and liver failure.
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.
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