Document aJVpV5ayB8vMe64OvGRONqnzR

3/20/78 FYh J>.i Ji./Ptohr'- y.D. Wood E. Mollica FKOMi R. A. I shore Martli 20, 1078 CHEMICAL MAltKETING ItlH'OItTKH mar 21 ms Japanese Pair Held liable in PCB Suit: $25.3 MM Damages Kuncgnfuchl Chemical Industry Company has boon found liable in a polychlorinated biphenyls poisoning tull brought by 729 patients or their survivors InWestcrnlJapan.The Fuku oka District Court has ordered Kane- gafuchl Chemical and co-defendant Kancml Warehouse Company to pay $25,3 million In damages. The compensation ranges from about $4,000 to about $70,000 per plaintiff depend- . lug on severity of symptoms. Plaintiffs have asked a total of $48.2 million In dam ages. The Japanese government and the City of Kltakyushu, also defendants In (he Bull, were not held liable. KancpU Warehouse, an edible oils pro ducer, was linked. In 19C8 to an outbreak earlier ttiat year In Japan of ``Yusho dls` case"- a sometimes falsi syndrome in volving pustular skin eruptions, pigments- lion changes, anemia and foetal distur bances. Kyushu University researchers traced the outbreak back to PCB-eontamlnMcd.rlcc-bran oil processed by Kancml Warehouse. 1 Kanegsfuehl Chemical supplied Kancml with I'Cll, which wax used as a heat ex change medium. The cooking oil contami nation occurred when PCIi leaked Into the oil through piping cracks during ptoccss- big. Kanegsfuehl Chemical and Kancmi were found negligent tn an earlier I'CH suit in the same court (CMH 10/17/77 pg. 4). That decision awarded forty-six patients a total ' of $2.0 million. As In the suit Just concluded. Kancgafuchl Chemical had argued Hint It wax not Noble for the consequences of mal functioning equipment in a customer's plant. Kancml argued that Kancgafuchl Chem ical failed to Inform uxors properly about PCH toxicity. The court agreed with the Kancml assertion In both rulings, and Ka- ncgafurhl Chemical Has appealed both to the Fukuoka High Court. I'Clt production, meanwhile, has been banned In Japan since |$7$. . / - .. lire suit Just decided also named as de fendants the Japanese government and Kl- lakyushu City, where Kancml Warehouse lx located, since these authorities are respon sible for (he safety of processed foods. . But Fukuoka District Court held that the relevant laws leave to government discre tion the nature of safety checks to be car ried out, and that the authorities did nut Ig nore their responsibility unreasonably. In addition to two suits, litigation brought by 155 oilier I'Cll poisoning pa- .lienl.s Is still pending In Fukuoka District Court, while another civil suit is pending In Hiroshima prefecture. (More than 1000 Jap anese have received government designs (loti as I'C'H victims.) The Fukuoka District Court has also completed hearings In a criminal case brought against officers of Kancml Ware house Company on the complaint of a group of I'CH patients In 1908.' A ruling Is expect ed later this month. , .. HONS 00035?