Soldiers may sue over ‘Gulf War II Syndrome’
Four British soldiers claim they are suffering ‘identical’ symptoms from this year’s US-led Iraq War, akin to the catalogue of illnesses known as ‘Gulf War Syndrome’.
They are threatening to sue the Ministry of Defence over what they claim is a new form of ‘Gulf War Syndrome.’
Representing the four soldiers, two of whom are Stephen Cartwright of Kidderminster and Tony Barker from Leeds, solicitor Mark McGhee of law firm Linder Myers said the soldiers claim to have suffered ‘severe physical and psychological symptoms’ due to a batch of vaccinations, deployed to protect against chemical and biological weapons, they received prior to the recent outbreak of hostilities.
The soldiers, two of them reservists and two from the regular Army, said they had received four vaccinations in one day, contrary to advice from Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.
He told the Commons on January 7: ‘As for vaccination, a key lesson learned from the Gulf conflict was the importance of ensuring that members of the armed forces should not undergo in a short time a series of different vaccinations.’
The claims come despite a recent assessment by the Medical Research Council that there was ‘little evidence to suggest Gulf War Syndrome had any sound scientific basis.
Charles Plumridge of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA) said two of the four soldiers were not deployed in the Iraq War as they had suffered such bad reactions to the vaccinations.
