DVT victims died because of airlines neglect, court told

The human cost of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was spelt out in the High Court yesterday when passengers demanded that airlines admit liability for the potentially fatal disease.

The illness, also known as economy class syndrome, was more widespread than had been conceded and had left dozens of victims either dead or crippled for life, the court was told.

Fifty-six people are fighting a legal case against 28 airlines, including British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas and Cathay Pacific, saying the airlines failed to warn them of the risks of DVT.

The three-day hearing, which started yesterday, will focus on whether the 1929 Warsaw Convention, which allows airline passengers to claim compensation after accidents, covers DVT.

Counsel Stuart Cakebread told Mr Justice Nelson that the outcome would be of "profound personal importance" to the claimants who had either contracted the illness or had lost a relative because of it.

Mr Cakebread said his clients' case was that there was a "causal link between air travel and DVT".

Leading figures in the campaign to win compensation are Ruth Christoffersen, 56, and her husband, John, 59. Their daughter Emma, 28, collapsed and died minutes after a Qantas flight from Sydney landed at Heathrow in 2000.

Mrs Christoffersen, of Newport, Gwent, said outside the hearing: "This problem has been going on for too long.

"Airlines need to know that they cannot walk away from the fact that there is a problem and people are still dying [from the condition]."

Mr Cakebread told the court that the number of claimants on the register represented a small fraction of the victims. Solicitors in the case were contacted by more than 300 victims and Qantas was facing hundreds of claimants in actions in the Australian courts.

"Those on the register are there simply because they can afford to bring their claims because they had the good fortune to have legal expenses insurance. There are hundreds more who at present cannot."

The barrister said DVT was a condition in which a small blood clot formed in the deep veins, particularly in the legs. Complications could lead to life-threatening conditions, particularly in the lungs where respiratory failure could lead to death.

He said the claimants had suffered because of a series of "acts and omissions" by the airlines. These included passengers being forced to sit too close together, and failing to inform the claimants that there was an increased risk of DVT through air travel. He said the airlines also failed to advise them on measures to avoid the risk and failed to take steps to reduce or minimise the risk.

The airlines, which deny liability, are expected to argue that they are protected under the convention from paying compensation for medical problems classed as a passenger reaction to the normal operation of an aircraft. They say that advice given by the World Health Organisation suggests there is no established link between DVT and flying.

The hearing continues today.