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  OSAKA (Kyodo) The government and a research center
  affiliated with Osaka University were handed a court
  order Thursday to pay a total of 155 million yen to
  the families of two children who died or suffered side
  effects after receiving the MMR vaccine. 
  The vaccine, which covers measles, mumps and rubella,
  has since been banned because of its high side effects
  rate. 

  The families of three children who were given the
  vaccine between 1989 and 1991 had sued the government
  and Osaka University's Research Institute for
  Microbial Diseases for a total 350 million yen in
  damages, claiming that their children had developed
  aseptic meningitis as a result. 

  The Osaka District Court stated that the institute
  produced the vaccine via a method different from that
  submitted to the health ministry and was the likely
  reason for the ensuing problems. 

  Presiding Judge Shinichi Yoshikawa ruled that
  vaccinations are procedures "that the state actively
  carries out from the perspective of protecting
  society." 

  He added that the government neglected its
  responsibility over the supervision of vaccine
  manufacturers and for ensuring that they follow the
  Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. 

  It is the first time that a court has ruled on a
  damages case related to the vaccine, whose side
  effects have affected about 1,800 people nationwide. 

  The court ruled that the death of the son of a couple
  in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, and the serious brain
  damage suffered by 13-year-old Hana Ueno, from
  Hanamaki, Iwate Prefecture, were caused by the MMR
  vaccine. 

  It ruled, however, that the child of a couple in Hyogo
  Prefecture died after contracting influenza. 

  Legal experts said that the ruling, which accorded the
  government a hefty supervisory responsibility over
  vaccinations, could have a great impact on future
  health administration and medicine-related lawsuits. 

  The Japan Times: March 14, 2003
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