The Ministry of Defence has lost its High Court appeal against a ruling that Gulf War Syndrome should be officially recognised as an illness.

The appeal followed the case of former Parachute Regiment medical officer Shaun Rusling, 44, who suffers from a range of ailments.


A war pensions appeal tribunal in Leeds ruled he was a victim of an identifiable syndrome attributable to his service in the 1991 Gulf conflict.

The decision, last May, was hailed by thousands of Gulf War veterans as a major development in their fight for damages against the MoD.

Sufferers of Gulf War Syndrome say it causes symptoms such as fatigue, nausea, fever and depression, as well as more serious conditions.

They 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 in 1991.

The MoD insists there is no authoritative medical evidence to support the existence of GWS.

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