論文詳細
巨大企業による認知症者家族への損害賠償請求
―後見人なしで模索してきた介護の逆転判決―
抄録
本事案は、2007年12月７日に認知症を有した当時91歳の認知症者が線路内に立ち入って列車に接触したもので、巨大企業が被害を受けたとして家族に損害賠償を請求した。長らく争われ、ようやく最高裁の逆転判決が2016年３月１日に出た。判決では家族に責任はないとされたために画期的とも評されたが、家族は後見人なしでまず介護の７年間を過ごし、事故後は訴訟のためにさらに８年間という歳月を費やしたのである。この訴訟をまとめた記録資料が家族側から供出され、模索の報告として編まれて2018年４月に展観された。なかで当時の主治医や福祉関係者も当事者として定見を寄せていて、精到に事様が示されたので、少し整理し報告したい。
The big company sued a family for compensation, saying
the accident had caused delays and cost the firm money:
There was no person to conduct the affairs of Guardianship, but the Supreme Court finally ruled, on March 1, 2016, that the family was not responsible.
Abstract
In Japan, there is an increasing number of railway accidents involving people with dementia or suspected dementia, some of which are fatal. For example, on December 7, 2007 a man with dementia, aged 91, wandered onto some railway tracks and was hit by a train. The big company sued his family for compensation, saying the accident had caused delays and cost the firm money. After a long legal battle, the Supreme Court finally ruled, on March 1, 2016, that the family was not responsible. While this case is considered groundbreaking, the reality is that the man’s family spent seven years providing care for him and there was no person to conduct the affairs of Guardianship and then, after the accident, an additional eight years in activities related to the lawsuit. The family has compiled the records on this struggle and made them available to the public in the form of a book, which was published in April 2018. The book provides detailed information on the case, including contributions by the medical and welfare professionals who were involved with the family. Since the book also reveals some new context to the accident, this paper aims to portray it as a benchmark, which will hopefully lead us to revisit the issue.