A doctor who treated a woman seriously injured in the March 1995 nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system testified in court Thursday that the patient still suffers a speaking disorder and cannot eat without help.

Dr. Yoshifumi Makino of the Tokyo Medical College took the witness stand for the prosecution in the Tokyo District Court trial of Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who stands accused of masterminding the sarin attack that killed 12 people and injured 3,795.

Makino had treated the woman at the college's medical center between March 20 and Aug. 23, 1995, in addition to about 15 other victims of the attack, he testified. She was unconscious when she was carried into the center at around 9:15 a.m. on the day of the attack from Nakanosakaue Station on the Marunouchi subway line, he said, and he determined that she was in critical condition.

The woman can currently sit in a chair with some help and can hold a spoon, but she cannot eat without help and still cannot speak properly, except in simple conversation, he said.