91仓库

The Tokyo District Court ordered the government to pay ?1.5 million ($9,750) in damages Thursday after finding that medical care provided to a 23-year-old male inmate at a juvenile detention facility in the city of Saitama had been “grossly unsatisfactory.”

According to the ruling, the inmate had been serving time for robbery resulting in injury and other charges at the Kawagoe juvenile prison’s Saitama detention branch when a doctor outside the facility diagnosed him with testicular cancer in March 2020.

He underwent surgery to remove the tumor, but the cancer had already metastasized throughout his body. His sentence was then suspended, and he was admitted to a civilian hospital, where he died in July 2021.

The man’s family had sought about ?77 million in compensation, arguing that his death was caused by the detention facility’s failure to provide timely, proper treatment.

The dispute centered on whether a medical examination conducted two months earlier, in January 2020, at the detention branch had been appropriate. At that time, he had said he was experiencing swelling in his scrotum.

Presiding Judge Kenji Mori denied a causal link between the inadequate care at the January medical examination and the inmate’s death but still ruled that the state was liable because the medical response fell far short of what was required.

Mori said that when the man reported the swelling, the facility’s doctor should have performed an ultrasound examination immediately.

“The need for an ultrasound could have been easily recognized if only minimal attention had been given,” he added, concluding that the failure to order such testing amounted to inappropriate medical practice.

Speaking to reporters in Tokyo after the ruling, the man’s mother, 50, said, “I hope this will lead to people in prisons being able to receive proper medical care in the future.”

The prison said it would “closely examine the content of the ruling and consult with the relevant authorities to respond appropriately.”