1.   Osaka prosecutors yesterday raided the offices of the company to investigate allegations it knowingly sold untreated blood products infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

2.   The court ruled that he should have ordered untreated blood supplies destroyed as soon as the risk of their being contaminated with the virus that causes AIDS was known.

3.   A former Health Ministry official was found guilty of negligence Friday for failing to stop the sale of untreated blood products.

4.   Abe denied charges that his negligence caused the death of a hemophilia patient infected with AIDS from untreated blood products.

5.   Abe has told the Tokyo District Court that he did not know at the time that using untreated blood products was dangerous.

6.   Aside from the criminal charges, Green Cross and other companies that supplied the untreated blood products have reached an out-of-court settlement with surviving patients.

7.   But along the way, the group vigorously debated the danger of receiving AIDS from untreated blood, the documents show.

8.   He has told the Tokyo District Court that he did not know at the time that using untreated blood products was dangerous.

9.   The belated acknowledgement of the deaths is the latest embarrassment for the ministry, which already is under fire for a delay in banning untreated blood products.

10.   The agreement comes after the government admitted in February that it knew of the risks posed by untreated blood products but did not pull them off the market.