OSAKA -- The Osaka District Court on Monday ordered a company that owns a failed Osaka ophthalmic hospital to pay about 100 million yen to 16 patients who suffered eye damage from the hospital's laser surgery.
Forty-seven patients, many from Osaka and Hyogo prefectures, had been demanding 470 million yen in damages from the owner of now-closed Kagawa Ophthalmic Hospital in Yodogawa Ward, Osaka. They claimed the operations caused abnormal farsightedness and sensitivity to light.
Presiding Judge Makoto Wakabayashi ruled in favor of 16 patients, ordering the company to pay each an amount ranging between 1.78 million yen and 10 million yen. But he dismissed the claims of the other 31 on grounds that the company, which took over the hospital after their surgeries had been performed, cannot be held responsible.