The Nagoya High Court ruled Wednesday that two women who were exposed to the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki should be recognized as sufferers of radiation diseases, overturning a lower court decision that had ruled otherwise.
The high court said the siblings — Hatsue Yamada, 85, and Tsutae Takai, 82 — both required medical treatment when they sought state recognition, years after one of them had undergone cancer surgery and the other was diagnosed with a thyroid gland disorder.
Atomic bomb survivors are entitled to various medical benefits. They can receive a monthly special medical care allowance of around ¥140,000 ($1,300) if their illness is recognized by the state as caused by radiation from the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and still requires treatment. Cancer is among the conditions recognized.