The Osaka District Court dismissed Tuesday a damages lawsuit filed by a woman left with cerebral palsy after consuming in the 1950s arsenic-tainted formula made by Morinaga Milk Industry, citing the expiration of the statute of repose.
The plaintiff, a 70-year-old woman from the city of Osaka, sought some ¥55 million ($387,000) in damages, arguing that existing relief measures were insufficient. But Presiding Judge Takenori Nomura ruled that the 20-year statute of repose for tort claims had already passed.
According to the ruling, the woman developed cerebral palsy after consuming Morinaga’s formula as an infant in 1955, when the product was found to be contaminated with arsenic. She later suffered pain and numbness in her neck and limbs and was diagnosed with cervical spondylotic myelopathy in December 1995, which worsened over time and left her unable to walk.
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