Result of the Medical Judgment Concerning Acknowledgment of Designated Diseases under the Act on Asbestos Health Damage Relief

On February 28th 2020, the Minister of the Environment conducted medical judgment on cases filed by the Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency of Japan (ERCA) based on the Act on Asbestos Health Damage Relief, and gave notice of results to ERCA.

Totally 131 cases were judged. Among them, 60 cases were judged to have been afflicted with a designated disease caused by asbestos (49 with malignant mesothelioma (MM), 11 with lung cancer (LC), 0 with lung asbestosis with heavy respiratory dysfunction (LA), 0 with diffuse pleural thickenings with heavy respiratory dysfunction (DPT))*. 0 case was judged to have been afflicted with a designated disease and died before the enforcement of the act (0 with MM, 0 with LC, 0 with LA, 0 with DPT)*. 11 cases were judged to have been afflicted with a designated disease and died before application for relief based on the act (7 with MM, 4 with LC, 0 with LA, 0 with DPT)*.

* The cumulative total: 9,912 cases were judged to have been afflicted with a designated disease caused by asbestos. 163 cases were judged to have been afflicted with a designated disease by asbestos and died before the enforcement of the act. 1,454 cases were judged to have been afflicted with a designated disease and died before the application for relief based on the act.