Gulf War Syndrome linked to vaccines (UK) (lance corporal Alex Izett lawsuit)
By Pat Clarke
Glasgow Daily Record, UK
A COLONEL has become the first Ministry of Defence doctor to blame Gulf War Syndrome on vaccinations given to soldiers.
Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe's comments are a boost to a compensation claim by a sick Scots former sapper.
Howe examined Alex Izett for the War Pensions Agency.
Izett, a former lance corporal in the Royal Engineers, says his severe depression and brittle bone disease were caused by the cocktail of drugs a claim echoed by other veterans.
And, in his report, Howe wrote: ''It seems most certain that Mr Izett did in fact receive classified secret injections prior to his expected deployment.
''These have most probably led to the development of autoimmune induced osteoporosis, which has clearly been a major participating factor in the
development of his recurrent depressive illness." Last year, Izett won a ruling from the War Appeals Tribunal linking the symptoms to the injections.
Izett, originall y from Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, released his medical records yesterday to raise awareness of the problem.
At home in Germany, Izett who was given the injections but never went to Iraq said: ''I want to help people who have suffered like me.''
A spokeswoman for the MoD said: ''We've accepted that some who served in the 1991 Gulf conflict became ill. But Gulf War Syndrome is not a recognised disease.''
Glasgow Daily Record, UK
A COLONEL has become the first Ministry of Defence doctor to blame Gulf War Syndrome on vaccinations given to soldiers.
Lieutenant Colonel Graham Howe's comments are a boost to a compensation claim by a sick Scots former sapper.
Howe examined Alex Izett for the War Pensions Agency.
Izett, a former lance corporal in the Royal Engineers, says his severe depression and brittle bone disease were caused by the cocktail of drugs a claim echoed by other veterans.
And, in his report, Howe wrote: ''It seems most certain that Mr Izett did in fact receive classified secret injections prior to his expected deployment.
''These have most probably led to the development of autoimmune induced osteoporosis, which has clearly been a major participating factor in the
development of his recurrent depressive illness." Last year, Izett won a ruling from the War Appeals Tribunal linking the symptoms to the injections.
Izett, originall y from Cumbernauld, near Glasgow, released his medical records yesterday to raise awareness of the problem.
At home in Germany, Izett who was given the injections but never went to Iraq said: ''I want to help people who have suffered like me.''
A spokeswoman for the MoD said: ''We've accepted that some who served in the 1991 Gulf conflict became ill. But Gulf War Syndrome is not a recognised disease.''
