Published 4:00 am, Saturday, September 4, 2004

A federal appeals court dealt a blow Friday to scores of lawsuits by ailing air travelers, ruling that an airline was not responsible for the potentially fatal blood clot that a passenger developed on an overseas flight.

The deep-vein thrombosis suffered by Adriene Rodriguez on a 2000 Air New Zealand flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand was not an accident -- which would have made the airline liable for damages -- but instead was the result of her body's reaction to the aircraft's normal operations, said the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in a 3-0 decision.

The court also said there was no evidence that the airline violated its own policy or an industry standard by allegedly failing to provide an adequate warning of the risk of blood clots.

Deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT, consists of blood clots that form in the legs, causing pain and swelling. The condition can be lethal if a clot breaks loose and reaches the heart or lungs. It has been nicknamed economy-class syndrome because it afflicts some air travelers who occupy cramped seats on long flights.

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Pregnant women, the elderly and passengers who have recently undergone surgery are considered especially at risk. Health experts advise passengers to drink water, stretch their legs and walk around the cabin to reduce the risk. Some have also recommended compression stockings below the knee.

Since Rodriguez's suit, other DVT suits against airlines from around the nation have been assigned to a single judge, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco. Friday's ruling, if it stands, will hurt the passengers' chances in most of those suits. Rodriguez's lawyer, Clay Robbins, said he would ask the full appeals court for a rehearing.

"I believe it rewards the airline's decision to withhold important health- related information from passengers," he said.

Roderick Margo, lawyer for Air New Zealand, said he hopes the ruling resolves the cases before Walker. Margo said many airlines, including most international carriers, warn their passengers of the risk of DVT, in magazines or in-flight audios or videos.

Rodriguez, who then lived in Los Angeles, collapsed when her 12-hour September 2000 flight arrived in New Zealand. When she regained consciousness, she was unable to speak or control her right arm. After hospitalization, she recovered and flew on to Australia without incident. She now lives in Australia and has not had a recurrence but will always be at risk for DVT, Robbins said.

The airline defended against her suit by relying on the Warsaw Convention, a treaty that protects international airlines from damages unless the passenger's injury is the result of an accident. The appeals court, upholding a federal judge's ruling, said neither of the causes alleged by Rodriguez -- cramped seating conditions or the airline's alleged failure to warn her -- amounted to an accident.

No "unusual external event" caused the DVT, said Judge A. Wallace Tashima in the ruling. He also said Rodriguez's lawyer offered no evidence that an airline policy or industry standard required a warning about DVT; in addition, the airline's magazine advised passengers to drink water, walk and exercise during long flights.

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