Britain to Study Gulf War Illnesses
The British Defense Ministry--under pressure from Persian Gulf War veterans and their supporters--appointed an independent medical panel Tuesday to conduct a three-year study of claims from veterans that they are suffering from a form of what has become known as Gulf War syndrome.
The ministry also formally apologized to the House of Commons for providing “flawed” information over the past few years in response to inquiries about the extent to which British troops were exposed to potentially hazardous pesticides during the Gulf War.
Many sick veterans believe that the military’s pest-control program--which used organophosphates to, among other things, delouse prisoners of war--may be responsible for their conditions.
About a thousand veterans so far have filed legal claims against the government, attributing a variety of health troubles--including nervous- and immune-system disorders, intestinal problems, chronic fatigue, liver and kidney damage and birth defects in offspring--to service in the Gulf.
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