, England, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- A senior British army medical specialist's confidential report says vaccinations given to soldiers caused Gulf War Syndrome, The Times of London said Monday.
This is the first official backing for claims that the cocktail of vaccines given to soldiers before the 1991 war with Iraq caused illnesses which became known as Gulf War syndrome.
For 13 years, the Ministry of Defense has denied the vaccines, some of which were classified as "secret," could be blamed for the wide range of debilitating diseases.
Independent research projects have also failed to find conclusive evidence of a Gulf War-related syndrome.
However, Lt. Col. Graham Howe, clinical director of psychiatry with the British Forces Health Service in Germany, was asked by the War Pensions Agency to examine the case of former Lance Cpl. Alex Izett, who, since the war, has been suffering from osteoporosis and acute depression.
Howe wrote in his report the "secret" injections Izett received prior to his expected deployment to the Gulf "most probably led to the development of autoimmune-induced osteoporosis."
The medical report noted there was a "high incidence" of osteoporosis in Gulf War veterans.
