Tribunal declares Gulf war syndrome an “umbrella term“

doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7525.1103

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Owen Dyer

London

Official recognition for Gulf war syndrome moved a step closer last week when a war pensions appeal tribunal granted a disability award to a former guardsman, saying that his illness was best described under the “umbrella term” Gulf war syndrome.

Daniel Martin, who served as an army doctor in the 1991 Gulf war, appealed against the Ministry of Defence's decision to reject his application for a war pension. He told the tribunal that he had a range of symptoms, including bilateral knee pain disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, memory loss, depression, asthma, and arthralgia.

The tribunal panel stopped short of recognising Gulf war syndrome as a disease. The appellant, according to the …