DVT victims’ families appeal to Parliament

By Martin Banks

Date: 22/01/04

FAMILIES of victims of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) were in Brussels this week to urge the European Parliament to ensure airlines provide better information for travellers. Campaigners appeared before the petitions committee yesterday (21 January) to call for:

• DVT information on airline tickets;
• pre-takeoff health briefings for all flights;
• EU funds to assess the public health risks of DVT, and;
• passenger information on the percentage degree of seat pitch in economy class.
• 50 long-haul passengers are known to have died from DVT clots. Research has shown that clots develop in the legs when circulation slows, and can prove fatal if the clots break off and are carried to the lungs.

Petitioners included Brenda Wilson from the UK, whose 32-year-old son Neil died three years ago, nine hours after flying to Benidorm, Spain, and Ruth Christoffersen, whose daughter Emma, 28, died shortly after arriving back in the UK from Australia, also three years ago.

The two women, both members of the Victims of Air Related DVT Association, met UK Socialist MEP Arlene McCarthy to help press their case. The deputy said: "The death of Mrs Wilson's son shows this is not just a long-haul problem, for a minority of people who are susceptible, there is a real risk from blood clots."

Brenda Wilson said that information about blood clots should be offered before any flight: "You are required by civil aviation law to wear a seat belt. In the interests of public health we need requirements to warn the public about possible health risks from blood clots before they fly."

Ruth Christoffersen commented: "We want people to know that if it can happen to a young, fit person like Emma then it can happen to anyone."

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