In 1980, the now-defunct Fujimi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, was the scene of one of the most shocking cases of medical malpractice in Japan.

Even though the executive director of the hospital was not licensed to practice medicine he examined patients, and based on his diagnosis, his wife, the hospital director, and other doctors removed uteri and ovaries from over 1,100 healthy women for financial gain.

Criminal charges against the doctors and director were eventually dropped and they were never prosecuted. This prompted victims to file a civil lawsuit claiming damages.

It is the Victims' League of Fujimi Obgyn Hospital (VLFOH) who has been awarded the 2005 Kato Award for their tireless efforts for 25 years to see justice done and the victims compensated.

In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled that the doctors were liable, and on March 2,2005, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare revoked the medical license of one of the doctors, 78 year-old former director Chikako Kitano, and suspended the licenses of three others. This is the first time for a doctor to lose a license due to malpractice in Japan.

Kitano and the hospital were also ordered to pay 510 million yen (approx. US$ 4.72 million) in damages.

Atsuko Konishi, VLFOH, said that it was regrettable that only Kitano had had her license revoked, but that this was the result of 25 years of pressure.

VLFOH had filed a petition to the ministry with the signatures of over 39,000 people demanding that the medical licenses of five doctors at the clinic be revoked.

On May 24, 2005, all five members of the Kato Award selecting committee (2002 - 2006), Mieko Takenobu, Journalist, Yoko Hayashi, Lawyer, Yoshiko Misumi, Chairperson, Asian Forum of Women's Exchange and Study, Azusa Miyako, Head of Nurses, Tokyo Koei Nenkin Hospital, and Yoriko Meguro, Professor, Jyochi University convened.

The committee unanimously concluded that VLFOH deserved the highest praise for its 25-year strenuous hard work to fight against medical world that had been considered to be the most tough and difficult opponent, especially in trials. Their award recognized that VLFOH was in the vanguard of women's fight to obtain reproductive health and rights.

The award ceremony will be held on July 7, in conjunction with a special symposium on World Population Day.

On being informed of receiving the Kato Award, Konishi wrote to JOICFP, saying "We do appreciate the selecting committee members who put a high value on our 25-year activities. Our fight was full of difficulties and we often felt that we would never succeed and that our efforts had no effect.
"But finally, we won the suit, and deprivation of the doctor's license came true, and we have been awarded the Kato Shidzue Award that we really wanted to receive above all.
"We are really happy now.
"Sorry to say, there are many victims who cannot join our activities and many of them cannot come forward. What they lost will never be returned, but it is our greatest pleasure if they could feel something of how they were able make a little step to advance RH/R."