British victims of air-travel blood clots begin legal action against= airlines LONDON (AP) =97 Dozens of airline passengers who say they suffered blood=20 clots after flying opened a legal battle for compensation at Britain's High= =20 Court on Tuesday. Fifty-six claimants, including relatives of several=20 people who died from deep-vein thrombosis =97 a potentially fatal blood clot= =20 now known as "economy class syndrome" in Britain =97 accuse airlines of=20 failing to warn them about the ailment. Airlines deny liability for the=20 condition. "We are dealing with repeated, statistically predictable and=20 relatively frequent deaths and injuries inflicted, the claimants say, by=20 the acts and neglect of those they are paying to look after them," said=20 Stuart Cakebread, the claimants' lawyer. The three-day hearing is to decide= =20 whether deep-vein thrombosis can be classified as an accident under the=20 Warsaw Convention, which covers compensation for death and injury during=20 air travel. Should that be established, the claimants plan to take action against as=20 many as 30 airlines, including British Airways, Delta Air Lines and=20 American Airlines. Deep-vein thrombosis is a condition in which a blood clot forms in the deep= =20 veins of the legs. It can be fatal when part of the clot breaks off and=20 blocks a blood vessel in the lungs. The condition has been linked to=20 long-haul flights. Most experts do not think the problem is related=20 specifically to airplane conditions, but to the fact that passengers stay=20 still for too long. Last year the British government issued an advisory=20 recommending passengers on long flights get up and walk around to avoid=20 developing blood clots in their calves. But Cakebread said there was "a=20 causal link between air travel and DVT." The claimants accuse the airlines= =20 of failing to supply adequate legroom and failing to inform travelers of=20 the risk of blood clots. "Airlines need to know that they cannot walk away= =20 from the fact that there is a problem and people are still dying on our=20 airplanes," said Ruth Christoffersen, whose 28-year-old daughter Emma=20 collapsed and died after getting off a Qantas flight from Australia to=20 London two years ago. Cakebread said the 1929 Warsaw Convention, which lays down principles of=20 compensation for air-accident victims, was "an early form of consumer=20 protection." The airlines are expected to argue that the condition is a=20 medical problem rather than an accident for which they would be liable=20 under the convention. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (I95.5FM) http://www.i955fm.com (Radio Station I95.5FM) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************