The total compensation of ¥937 million ($3.4 million) was the largest sum ever awarded by a Japanese court. Uncertified patients fight to be recognised
While the struggles of the arbitration and litigation groups against Chisso were continuing, a new group of individuals with Minamata disease emerged. To qualify for compensation under the 1959 agreement, patients had to be officially recognised by various ad hoc certification committees according to their symptoms. However, in an effort to limit the liability and financial burden on the company, these committees were sticking to a rigid interpretation of Minamata disease. They required that patients must exhibit all symptoms of Hunter-Russell syndrome – the standard diagnosis of organic mercury poisoning at the time, which originated from an industrial accident in the United Kingdom in 1940. The committee certified only patients exhibiting explicit symptoms of the British syndrome, rather than basing their diagnosis on the disease in Japan. This resulted in many applicants being rejected by the committee, leaving them confused and frustrated. Legacies
Epidemiology
As of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially certified and over 10,000 people had received financial compensation from Chisso, although they were not recognised as official victims. The issue of quantifying the impact of Minamata disease is complicated, as a full epidemiological study has never been conducted and patients were recognised only if they voluntarily applied to a certification council to seek financial compensation. Many individuals with Minamata disease faced discrimination and ostracism from the local community if they came out into the open about their symptoms.
Their parents, who are often their only source of care, are into their seventies or eighties or already deceased. Often, these patients find themselves tied to their own homes and the care of their family, effectively isolated from the local community. Some welfare facilities for patients do exist. One notable example is Hot House, a vocational training centre for congenital patients as well as other disabled people in the Minamata area. Hot House members are also involved in raising awareness of Minamata disease, often attending conferences and seminars as well as making regular visits to elementary schools throughout Kumamoto Prefecture. See also
Heavy metal poisoning
Minamata Convention on Mercury
Ontario Minamata disease
Mercury in fish

References
Further reading
"Minamata Disease: The History and Measures", The Ministry of the Environment, (2002), retrieved 17 January 2007
"Minamata Disease Archives" by the National Institute for Minamata Disease, retrieved 29 October 2006
Harada, Masazumi. (1972). Minamata Disease. Kumamoto Nichinichi Shinbun Centre & Information Center/Iwanami Shoten Publishers. ISBN 4-87755-171-9 C3036
George, S. Timothy. (2001). Minamata: Pollution and the Struggle for Democracy in Postwar Japan. Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00785-9
Ui, Jun. (1992). Industrial Pollution in Japan. United Nations University Press. ISBN 92-808-0548-7. Chapter 4, section IV
Smith, W. E. and Smith, A. M. (1975). Minamata. Chatto & Windus, Ltd. (London), ISBN 0-7011-2131-9
Eto, K., Marumoto, M. and Takeya, M. (2010) "The pathology of methylmercury poisoning (Minamata disease)", retrieved 7 December 2013
Oiwa, Keibo. (2001). Rowing the Eternal Sea: The Story of a Minamata Fisherman. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 0-7425-0021-7
Steingraber, Sandra. (2001). Having Faith: An Ecologist Journey to Motherhood. Perseus Publishing.