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Women's deaths linked to DVT on U.S. flights - 09/11/01 The Daily Mail
Air travel contributed to the deaths of two women from a condition linked to deep-vein thrombosis, an inquest jury ruled yesterday. Immobility during transatlantic flights may have caused them to develop the fatal blood clots, the hearing was told. The jury's finding, in separate inquests at Hornsey Coroner's Court in North London, will increase the pressure in airlines over the incidence of blood clots linked to long-haul travel.
Beatrice Jones, 80, of Kingsbury , North-West London, died in May after a nine-hour United Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, to Heathrow, following a trip to the U.S. to visit her sister. Student Dion Edwards, 33, of Kensal Green, North-West London, collapsed and died in July following a Virgin Atlantic flight from Miami to Heathrow.
The jury returned separate verdicts of misadventure on the two women, after concluding on the 'balance of probabilities' that immobility during flying had played a part in each case. Pathologist Dr Rufus Crompton gave the cause of death in both cases as pulmonary embolism - a blood clot in the lung which prevents the body getting enough oxygen and puts huge strain on the heart. The clots would have lodged in the lung after forming in a leg vein, possibly due to the victims' lack of activity during their flights, he said. Mrs Jones's husband Victor, 80, told the hearing they had been in America visiting Mrs Jones's sister.
She flew from Wichita to Chicago, where she had a two-hour stopover, before taking off on the seven-and-a-half hour flight to Heathrow. 'She took ill on the flight but I had no idea what was wrong. She woke up and said her back was aching and her chest was tight,' Mr Jones said. 'She was breathing rapidly - panting. I said "Take some deep breaths" and she said it hurt. At Heathrow, Mrs Jones had to be taken off the plane in a wheelchair. She collapsed and died moments after arriving home. Brendan O'Reilly, general manager for United Airlines UK and Ireland, told the inquest that passengers' knowledge of risks of deep vein thrombosis would depend on them reading in-flight booklets and statements posted on the Internet.
Mr Jones is considering legal action against United, claiming the firm failed to provide information about risks she took by getting on the airline. After the hearing, he said 'We weren't given a booklet or any information on what happens with blood clots. If you don't get the Internet you don't have access to the website - we weren't told anything'. The inquest into the death of Miss Edwards heard that she collapsed on the pavement near her home four days after stepping off a virgin Atlantic long-haul flight, and died two hours later in hospital.
Aviation medical expert Dr Steven Goodwin said he would not have allowed someone suffering from severe anaemia - as Miss Edwards did - to fly. Long haul flights temporarily increased the health risk to passengers who already had medical conditions, he said 'In effect passengers won't get the oxygen they are used to' A spokesman for Virgin said: 'We agree with the world health Organisation that there is a lot of research that needs to be done before a causal link between flying and DVT is proven.' United said 'We take these matters very seriously and that is why we offer our customers advice on healthy travel.'
Two hundred people, either passengers who developed DVT or relatives of victims, are currently seeking a group litigation order to sue a number of airlines Last night, solicitor Gerda Goldinger, of specialist aviation solicitors Collins, said; 'We are pleased to see that there is now open recognition that there is increased risk of compromise to passengers. We hope the industry will listen |
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