UK marine wins landmark case over illness (CFS) contracted in Afghanistan

[natasa778]

A Royal Marine from Plymouth who contracted a disabling infection on his way back from Afghanistan has won his damages battle against the Ministry of Defence.

Philip Eaglesham became very ill with Q fever in October 2010 when he was coming home after a period of service as a corporal with 40 Commando.

He says he should have been given the right antibiotics as a and that the failure to do so was a breach of the MoD's duty of care.

...
The 35 year old now has very serious chronic fatigue syndrome which is a well-known consequence of Q fever.

He uses a wheelchair and competed in target shooting for Ireland at the Paralympics in Rio.

In July this year, the High Court ordered the MoD to comply with an order for disclosure of certain documents by October 21 or its defence would be struck out.

On Thursday, Mrs Justice Andrews refused to grant the MoD an extension of time to comply.

The MoD said the delay was caused by the number and sensitivity of further documents found, technical problems and constraints on resources.

Damages - which the judge said were estimated to be in the order of six to eight million pounds - will be assessed at a further hearing.

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry...-case-over-illness-contracted-in-afghanistan/

 

[Hutan]

It would be interesting to know more about this. It seems quite significant.

I guess the fact that the MoD didn't disclose documents was a big reason for the result. But still, for compensation of that magnitude to be suggested by the judge, it required her to recognise Mr Eaglesham's CFS condition is very serious and not able to be easily fixed (e.g. with a bit of CBT and GET).

 

[Mij]

I've read that if you have Q fever for over 6 months (there's that 6 month deadline again) it's is called chronic Q fever.

"The 35 year old now has very serious chronic fatigue syndrome which is a well-known consequence of Q fever."

well known?

 

[Apple]

Here's another article about it http://www.somersetcountygazette.co...rving_wins_landmark_legal_battle_against_MoD/

 

[AndyPR]

From the CDC entry on Q Fever - http://www.cdc.gov/qfever/symptoms/index.html

Although the majority of people with acute Q fever recover completely, a post-Q fever fatigue syndrome has been reported to occur in 10-25% of some acute patients. This syndrome is characterized by constant or recurring fatigue, night sweats, severe headaches, photophobia (eye sensitivity to light), pain in muscles and joints, mood changes, and difficulty sleeping.

I had seen this story and initially thought it was setting an interesting precedent. After a bit of thought though I would guess the argument would be it only applies as a precedent if we can show that we had Q Fever prior to our own chronic fatigue syndrome.

Disclaimer: I have no legal training so could be totally wrong.

 

[*GG*]

Interesting development. You might want to put (UK) in the Title @natasa778 , quit a few Plymouths here in the USA

GG

 

[Hip]

Some Q-fever ME/CFS studies:

• Post-infection fatigue syndrome following Q fever
• Chronic fatigue syndrome after Q fever
• A comparison of patients with Q fever fatigue syndrome and patients with chronic fatigue syndrome with a focus on inflammatory markers and possible fatigue perpetuating cognitions and behaviour

 

[Countrygirl]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26272528

Esther's FITNET buddies claim that they could help the Q fever victim reduce his fatigue by their behavioural interventions.

CONCLUSION:
Differences and similarities between QFS and CFS patients were found. Although the relationship between perpetuating factors and fatigue previously established in CFS could not be confirmed in QFS patients, the considerable overlap in fatigue-related cognitive-behavioural variables and the relationship found between physical activity and fatigue may suggest that behavioural interventions could reduce fatigue severity in QFS patients.

 

[Hutan]

From @Apple's post above:
http://www.somersetcountygazette.co...rving_wins_landmark_legal_battle_against_MoD/

He showed remarkable determination and strength of character to represent Team Ireland at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, and is now focussing on achieving justice for himself and other servicemen and women who have fallen ill through Q Fever. With a number of similar cases being brought against the Ministry of Defence, Mr Eaglesham’s case proves an encouraging landmark victory.

All power to Mr Eaglesham.

I had seen this story and initially thought it was setting an interesting precedent. After a bit of thought though I would guess the argument would be it only applies as a precedent if we can show that we had Q Fever prior to our own chronic fatigue syndrome.

There is the Dubbo prospective study that followed people with Q fever, Ross River fever and glandular fever in an Australian town.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16950834

RESULTS
Prolonged illness characterised by disabling fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, neurocognitive difficulties, and mood disturbance was evident in 29 (12%) of 253 participants at six months, of whom 28 (11%) met the diagnostic criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome. This post-infective fatigue syndrome phenotype was stereotyped and occurred at a similar incidence after each infection. The syndrome was predicted largely by the severity of the acute illness rather than by demographic, psychological, or microbiological factors.
CONCLUSIONS
A relatively uniform post-infective fatigue syndrome persists in a significant minority of patients for six months or more after clinical infection with several different viral and non-viral micro-organisms. Post-infective fatigue syndrome is a valid illness model for investigating one pathophysiological pathway to chronic fatigue syndrome.

So I think that a strong case can be made that the CFS condition following Q fever is the same or similar to that following a range of other infections.

 

[sarah darwins]

This guy was interviewed on Adrian Chiles' show on BBC Radio 5 this morning. If you're in the UK you can find it on the iPlayer - interview starts around 9 minutes in. He's mostly talking about a new kind of wheelchair he's invented but he starts of talking about the illness.

 

[Hip]

It is funny how if your ME/CFS started as a result of someone's negligence or through somebody's professional actions, you can get awarded $millions. We have seen this before, for example with the $1.1 million cash award plus lifetime medical care expenses paid out in the case of a patient whose ME/CFS was triggered by hepatitis B vaccination. Ref: 1 2

Whereas if your ME/CFS started because you caught an ME/CFS-triggering virus via somebody coughing or sneezing on you, you are entitled to nothing.

Philosophically, I always find that hard to comprehend, even though I understand the legalities of negligence. I am certainly not begrudging anyone who does get awarded such legal compensations — we know very well that they deserve it, and need it in order to live with their disabilities. Best wishes to them.

And it is great and very important that the courts are seemingly recognizing how debilitating and life destroying ME/CFS can be at the moderate to severe levels of disease severity.

But if each of us with ME/CFS were given awards like that, it would for example allow us to pursue expensive but often effective treatments such as Ampligen ($25,000 a year) or rituximab ($50,000 for the first year).

 

[Dolphin]

It is funny how if your ME/CFS started as a result of someone's negligence or through somebody's professional actions, you can get awarded multiple $millions. We have seen this before, for example with the $1.1 million cash award plus lifetime medical care expenses paid out in the case of a patient whose ME/CFS was triggered by hepatitis B vaccination. Ref: 1 2

Whereas if your ME/CFS started because you caught an ME/CFS-triggering virus via somebody sneezing on you, you are entitled to nothing.

Philosophically, I always find that hard to comprehend, even though I understand the legalities of negligence. I am certainly not begrudging anyone who does get awarded such legal compensations — we know very well that they deserve it, and need it in order to live with their disabilities. Best wishes to them.

But if each of us with ME/CFS were given awards like that, it would for example allow us to pursue expensive but often effective treatments such as Ampligen ($25,000 a year) or rituximab ($50,000 for the first year).

Also for many of us the prognosis would probably have been much better with an early diagnosis and appropriate support.

 

[Hip]

Also for many of us the prognosis would probably have been much better with an early diagnosis and appropriate support.

I wonder whether there is a legal negligence case against NHS, the government, or some other UK professional medical institutions regarding their inaction on the demonstrated association between enterovirus (coxsackievirus B and echovirus) and ME/CFS. There are numerous studies showing this clear association to enteroviruses, dating back to at least 1970.

Since this link between coxsackievirus B / echovirus and ME/CFS is well known, action should have been taken, especially in the form of a coxsackievirus B vaccine.

A coxsackievirus B vaccine is a very feasible proposition, and would have very likely prevented millions of cases of ME/CFS. This thread details several studies which concluded that creating a coxsackievirus B vaccine would straightforward and technically feasible.

(It is not always easy to create vaccines for viruses, due to technical difficulties inherent with particular viruses. For example, with HIV and EBV, there are major technical hurdles to overcome before you can create vaccines; but for coxsackievirus B, there are apparently no such technical difficulties, so there is no excuse for not having organized a CVB vaccine to be formulated and added to the UK vaccine schedule.)

Thus I wonder if there is a legal case that could be prosecuted against the NHS or the UK government for not creating and introducing a coxsackievirus B (and echovirus) vaccine?

A new law in the UK allows US-style class action lawsuits to be prosecuted in the UK. I imagine if the 250,000 UK ME/CFS patients got together on this one.

 

[Valentijn]

But if each of us with ME/CFS were given awards like that, it would for example allow us to pursue expensive but often effective treatments such as Ampligen ($25,000 a year) or rituximab ($50,000 for the first year).

It would also greatly incentivize the relevant governments to develop effective treatments. But as it stands, they can avoid investing in research, avoid paying for real testing and treatments of patients, avoid compensating patients, and try very hard to avoid paying for disability benefits.

 

[taniaaust1]

It would also greatly incentivize the relevant governments to develop effective treatments. But as it stands, they can avoid investing in research, avoid paying for real testing and treatments of patients, avoid compensating patients, and try very hard to avoid paying for disability benefits.

yeah we definitely need more ME/CFS law suits to get the governments off their arses and start funding our research.

 

[Valentijn]

yeah we definitely need more ME/CFS law suits to get the governments off their arses and start funding our research.

The problem is that governments and agencies usually can't be sued, at least in the US. The theory is that it isn't necessary to sue them, because change can be implemented via voting for different political candidates. But bad PR can also be effective.

 

[taniaaust1]

The problem is that governments and agencies usually can't be sued, at least in the US. The theory is that it isn't necessary to sue them, because change can be implemented via voting for different political candidates. But bad PR can also be effective.

I'd think more so not easily sued rather then cant be sued. Its taken me ages to be able to get any kind of legal aid to get a court case going against my state government depts. for ME/CFS discrimination as they didn't offer the normal legal aid routes if you want to take them to court eg no normal free legal aid seeing it was against gov. Many gov legal places aren't even allowed to offer legal advice if its against the gov.