LONDON, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Gulf War Syndrome -- while still debated stateside -- gained credence Tuesday in Britain, when a soldier won a pension based on the illness.
However, with many in the United States still skeptical about the syndrome, this week's ruling in the United Kingdom suggests that that wariness might be spreading to Britain as well, possibly making GWS-based pensions harder to get in future cases.
In making its decision, the British High Court used GWS as an umbrella term to give a Persian Gulf War veteran a pension to cover his health problems.
The ruling marks the second time the British court has officially recognized as a medical condition the elusive set of symptoms including nausea, dizziness and rash that some experts say can be traced to chemical weapons used during the Middle East conflict.
But the court's latest decision is unique because the judge stressed that, in future GWS-based claims, the burden will shift from Britain's Ministry of Defence to the veteran making the claim to prove GWS is a bona fide medical condition.
Of 7,500 British military veterans making disability claims, 1,500 base their claims on GWS.
