MoD loses Gulf syndrome case

The High Court has refused to overturn a landmark ruling that officially recognised the existance of a 'Gulf War Syndrome'.

A judge in London dismissed an appeal by the Ministry of Defence against a decision by a war pensions appeal tribunal that former Parachute Regiment medical officer Shaun Rusling was a victim of an identifiable syndrome attributable to his service in the 1991 Gulf conflict.

However, although Mr Justice Newman announced that he could not find any basis upon which the tribunal's decision could be legally impugned, he emphasised that he had not made any ruling on the existence or otherwise of Gulf War syndrome.

In his ruling the judge emphasised: "This court is not in a position to express any view on the merits of the dispute as to whether, according to current medical research, Gulf War syndrome is or is not a 'single disease entity'. It has not done so by this judgment. Each case will depend upon its own facts."

The original decision that there was an identifiable syndrome, by a pensions tribunal in Leeds last year, was hailed by thousands of Gulf War veterans as a major development in their fight for damages against the MoD, on the basis that their illnesses were caused by a common factor.

After the judgment, an emotional Mr Rusling, 44, chairman of the Gulf War Veterans Association, said: "I am elated." He went on to claim: "It is a total vindication of all war veterans suffering from Gulf War syndrome."

His lawyers, Linder Myers Solicitors, claimed in a statement "The decision will not just affect Shaun and those veterans who served in the first Gulf War conflict, but potentially the whole of the UK veteran population.

"The decision also exonerates and vindicates the position that has been adopted by Shaun throughout the duration of the appeal process, which has been ongoing now for approximately nine years."

The MoD, pointing out that the judge had expressed no opinion on whether the syndrome exists, said in a statement: "We accept that some Gulf veterans have become ill and that many veterans believe this ill-health is related to their Gulf experience. There is no medical or scientific consensus about the causes of this ill-health, and we remain open-minded about the various causes that have been suggested....The MoD's position must always be based on the best available science."

Sufferers say Gulf War Syndrome causes symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, fever and depression, as well as more serious conditions, and claim it was caused, at least in part, by their being given a large number of injections and tablets when they arrived in the Gulf.