Judge torn on fate of nuke victims’ care

A group of 7,700 Pacific island migrants in Hawaiʻi who suffer from the long-term effects of U.S. nuclear testing—a high rate of cancer, kidney failure and sterility—await a federal judge’s ruling on a request to dismiss a class-action lawsuit that seeks to restore their medical benefits.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright said he will rule next week, but he was apparently grappling with what could be a life-or-death situation for many.

"You can see how I, myself, am struggling with this," Seabright said at a hearing yesterday on the state’s motion to dismiss the suit on behalf of migrants from the Federated States of Micronesia and the republics of the Marshall Islands and Palau.