Despite two recent landmark court rulings awarding damages to people who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood products, the battle over blood is far from over.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2006/nn20060914f1a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='167'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B> An inmate donates blood in 1989 at Cummins Unit in the Arkansas prison system in this still image from the U.S. documentary 'Factor 8.' </B> –

KELLY DUDA

On Tuesday, 17 of the 18 plaintiffs who had sued the government, Mitsubishi Pharma Corp. and its subsidiary Benesis Corp. filed an appeal of the Fukuoka District Court decision of late August that ordered the defendants to pay a combined 168 million yen in damages to only 11 of the 18 plaintiffs.