Pennsylvania Man Held In Tokyo Over Medical Bill Dispute Released

The family of John W. Hopkins Jr. has a lot to celebrate in the year 2000. The Yeadon, PA, man was released and returned to America after he was stuck in a Tokyo hospital since fall because the struggling musician could not pay a $20,000 medical bill.

Hopkins went to Japan in September for a two-month music job, said his cousin Robert Mitchell. He had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. He later had a heart attack and slipped into a coma. He had no health insurance.

By November Hopkins had recovered, but his relatives were told, in what officials now say was a misunderstanding, that they would have to pay the entire $20,000 in cash.

Due to the language barrier, the family of modest means assumed any payment plan was pointless.

Hopkins' 80-year-old mother offered to sell her home to pay the costs. His sister, 51-year-old teacher Iona Purnell, wrote President Clinton and called the Red Cross. Others sought help from Pennsylvania Rep. Chaka Fattah, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and officials across the Pacific.

A solution finally came Christmas week, when the U.S. Embassy in Japan called the hospital and arranged for the bill to be paid a little at a time, said Hopkins' son, John W. Hopkins III.

The elder Hopkins at JET press time was visiting family in Ft. Lewis, WA.