[2025] UKUT 215 (AAC)

The appellant is a former member of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary who saw active service at sea during the 1991 Gulf War.

On 7 October 2008 the appellant made a claim for a war disablement pension under the War Pensions (Mercantile Marine Scheme) 1964 (“the 1964 Scheme). In his claim, the appellant stated that the illness, disease or other condition for which he was claiming was “Gulf War Syndrome”. He then described four ways in which he was affected by this condition: (i) lack of sex drive and impotence, (ii) severe joint and muscle pains, (iii) chronic fatigue, and (iv) depression and memory loss. The appellant attributed his condition and what he described as its effects to his service during the 1991 Gulf War. The appellant’s claim set out three possible causes of the condition: (i) multiple vaccinations; (ii) administration of nerve agent pre-treatment tablets (“NAPs”); and (iii) frequent exposure to thick black smoke whilst on the upper deck of his vessel.

The Secretary of State refused the claim in 2009. However, after appeals against that decision which extended over many years, the Secretary of State issued a fresh decision on the claim on 11 December 2018. This decision on entitlement also refused the claim. It is this 11 December 2018 decision which the appellant appealed to the PATS.

It would seem that the Secretary of State’s decision neither accepted or rejected the appellant’s claim to suffer from Gulf War Syndrome. (Gulf War Syndrome has also been referred to as Gulf War Illness (GWI) in these proceedings, and I will refer to it as the latter. Nothing turns on the nomenclature). It was the appellant’s case that the Secretary of State took this position because of his view that GWI “is not a syndrome in medical terms but may be used as an umbrella term to cover other conditions”.