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 Nicola Stanbridge
The Ministry of Defence has always denied the existence of 'Gulf War Syndrome' - a disorderÌýthat some veterans of the 1991 conflict claim they are suffering.
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Fax from the MOD.
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Letter to Physicians about the syndrome.
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Scientific letter
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More scientific debate
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For over a decade a group of British soldiers claim they became ill following their service in the Gulf WarÌýconflict ofÌý1991. They believe the concoction of vaccines administered to the soldiers may be theÌýrootÌýcause of their medical disorders.
So far the British government has refused to hold a public inquiry into this issue.Ìý There is a variety of scientific opinion on whether such a condition even exists.
One British army veteran is so angry with the government's response that he began a hunger strike six weeks ago. He says he will not stop until a public inquiry into Gulf War Syndrome begins.
Alex Izett was given a series of vaccinations in quick succession for the 1991 Gulf War. Two years agoÌýTodayÌýreported that a Pension Tribunal ruled the Osteoporosis he developed on leaving the military was caused by that concoction of drugs. The MOD refused to accept this finding.
Mr Izett lives just down the road from British army barracks in Osnabruck .. Where he was once stationed in the Royal engineers. I arrive at his house at a difficult time, his family's trying to eat lunch - it's been 5 and a half weeks since food passed Alex Izett's lips. So far he's lost overÌýtwo stones in weight.
A pension tribunal ruled the concoction of drugsÌýMr Izett received for the gulf war of 1991 caused his osteoperosis, he hoped it would show the existence of gulf war syndrome, the MOD says it doesn't , that it merely showed the MOD couldn't prove that ill health wasÌýnot caused by the injections .. theÌýMOD says independent research has found no single cause for the illnesses that some gulf war veterans suffer .
For 10 yearsÌýMr Izett has lived with a range of illnesses including depression, ulcers, fatigue and osteoperosis. He has a 70% war disability pension but he says it's not enough and worries that because it's not 80% if he dies his wife won't be entitled to get a widows pension.
AÌýcouple of weeks ago, some time into his hunger strike he received a letter from the MOD urging him to reconsider his action.
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