TEPCO sued by relatives of dead patients

June 12, 2013

Suit over patient deaths

JIJI

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/06/12/national/suit-over-patient-deaths/#.UbdDwNhBpg4

A damages suit has been filed against Tokyo Electric Power Co. by 15 relatives of four patients who died in 2011 in the early days of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdown catastrophe due to alleged improper medical care blamed on chaotic evacuations and power outages.

The 15 plaintiffs are seeking some ¥125 million in damages from Tepco in their suit filed Monday with the Tokyo District Court, saying the patients died because they were not able to be treated during the evacuation process, which caused them to lose strength.

The four patients who died, ranging in age from their 60s to 90s, were staying at Futaba Hospital or its affiliated nursing facility in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, and died between March 15 and April 18, 2011, according to a lawyer for the plaintiffs. The central government has acknowledged that the four deaths were nuclear disaster-related.

The relatives of three other patients who died at the hospital also plan to sue Tepco.

According to the Fukushima Prefectural Government, 51 people at Futaba Hospital and its nursing facility, including inpatients, died between March 11, 2011, the day of nuclear crisis started, and April 30, 2011.

“I hope the lawsuit will reveal how a member of my family died,” one of the plaintiffs said.

Tepco declined comment on the suit, saying it has yet to examine the details.

Families of deceased hospital patients sue TEPCO

      http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130610_35.html

The families of hospital patients who died in the confusion of the evacuation from the Fukushima nuclear plant accident have filed a joint lawsuit against the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company.

The lawsuit is being brought by the families of 4 people who were in Futaba Hospital and an adjacent nursing home in Okuma town at the time of the accident. The facilities are about 4 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and within the evacuation zone.

The plaintiffs say their loved ones died because they were stranded in the facilities without necessary medical and nursing services or had to endure a long bus trip to evacuate.

They are demanding about 300,000 dollars each in damages.
The lawyers representing the plaintiffs say that the purpose of the suit is not to get money but to find out why their loved ones lost their lives.

TEPCO officials have declined to comment on the case.

The government says about 230 people were stranded in medical facilities and that 50 of them died during and after evacuation.