An important test case brought by eight individuals against British Airways on Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) was thrown out by the House of Lords in Britain late last week.

The group had effectively sought leave to go ahead with a case for compensation against several airlines, alleging that they had failed to warn them that sustained cramped flying conditions could cause DVT, or blood clots.
The House of Lords concluded that the events which cause DVT could not be classified as an accident under the Warsaw Convention governing air travel, and it therefore upheld an earlier Appeals Court ruling. Had the case been proven, then it would have opened the door to multiple multi-million dollar law suits, with disastrous results on the airlines in question.
Following the result, British Airways moved quickly to draw a line under the matter in a statement: ‘This means that the decision is final and no claims for injury or death caused by DVT during the normal operation of an aircraft can now be brought against airlines in the UK,’ it said.