Airlines refuse to help research on killer blood clots 

    Airlines are refusing to assist research into "economy class
    syndrome" and are failing to offer travellers sufficient warning
    about the potentially fatal condition of blood clots, according to
    scientists. 

    Researchers from Britain, Australia and the US say companies
    have declined or ignored requests for information to help their
    studies into deep vein thrombosis (DVT). 

    Sam Shuster, emeritus professor of dermatology at Newcastle
    University, told BBC1's Panorama programme last night that he
    had asked British Airways for access to passengers in 1996. 

    BA refused, writing: "Most passengers do not wish to get
    involved and are simply keen to get on with their journey. There
    is the added difficulty that we have to tread carefully because as
    a commercial organisation we have no wish to imply that flying
    might be bad for one's health." 

    A BA spokeswoman yesterday said the proposal had included
    complex in-flight experiments. She said: "We get hundreds of
    approaches to do research every year, and are not able to
    cooperate with all of them." She added that the airline had
    provided flight information for a recent study. 

    In all, five scientists told Panorama that companies had refused
    to help their research. 

    "It would be very easy for airlines to send out a letter to those on
    their mailing list asking for volunteers for studies into blood
    clots, but they don't want the problem to come out into the
    open," said Farrol Khan of the Aviation Health Institute, a
    medical charity promoting the health of passengers. 

    DVT - called economy class syndrome because it is more likely
    to occur in the restricted conditions found with cheaper airline
    seats - is estimated to affect up to one in 10 long-haul
    passengers and kill up to 1,000 British travellers a year. 

    Because people are not moving around, blood clots develop in
    their legs and gradually move through their bodies. If the clots
    reach the lungs they can cause pulmonary embolisms, cutting
    off the oxygen supply to the body by blocking blood vessels.

    The programme found that airlines did not warn passengers
    about DVT specifically, although many advised passengers to
    keep active and move around. 

    John Cruickshank, a doctor who himself suffered a pulmonary
    embolism after flying in 1988, said his offer to make a safety
    video for airlines had been turned down.
 
    Tania Branigan
    Monday June 11, 2001
    The Guardian 

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    "Perceptions" note:

    While "The Guardian" maybe overstates the 'uncooperative'
    stance of airlines, there is always going to be a desire
    to continue practices that have been making money - whether
    or not they may be shown to be unsafe or toxic to humans or
    animals in general.

    A look at past and recent history shows us:- 
    
    'mad hatters' - continuing to using mercury to treat 
    materials, thereby destroying their own brain structure;

    dry-cleaners and factories using chemical cleaning agents that
    react with (and dissolve) human tissues, resulting in thousands
    of illnesses and deaths of workers forced to use those agents;

    manufacturers of civil & military electrical / electronic eqpt
    using highly polluting & toxic agents in components, with no
    safe use procedures for military personnel and no safe disposal
    options;

    English gov't (civil service) compelling farmers to use extremely
    dangerous, toxic and polluting compounds: a) organo-phosphate 
    sheep-dips, b) complex insecticides, c) ditto for fertilisers,
    d) hormonal treatments of animals, e) growth stimulators, 
    f) infected animal feeds - (BSE);

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    evidence page for
    http://www.perceptions.couk.com/uef/fertility.html#caution

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              FURTHER REFERENCES

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