Noteboom The Law Firm

Lariam - prevents malaria or promotes mental illness in our troops?

Malaria is an infection spread to humans through mosquito bites and can cause death.  The U.S. Department of State strongly advises us take a malaria preventative medicine if we travel to parts of the world where mosquitoes carry malaria.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) publicly warns us about one particular malaria preventative called Lariam. Lariam can cause serious psychological and physical side effects in some patients, especially in those who already suffer from specific mental health problems.

Lariam is regularly prescribed to our troops fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq and other regions to prevent malaria. Given its possible side effects, does this drug sound like a responsible choice for our troops? 

Imagine the environment that our soldiers are in... Now picture the images they see on a daily basis and the ones that linger in their minds long after the events have occurred.  Do you think our military should be administering a medicine that can evoke bad dreams and worse cause severe anxiety, feelings that people are against them, hallucinations, and/or depression? I think our soldiers have enough to deal with fighting for their lives and the lives of others.    

Could Lariam's side effects be to blame for the recent suicide of Army reservist Juan "John" Torres and 6 other Special Forces soldiers in 2002? His father says, yes!  Now, Torres, 53, is asking for congressional hearings and is demanding a moratorium on Lariam pending more investigation and stricter oversight of the drug's use by troops.  "I think my son's story could save many lives," said Torres, who went to Bagram in 2006 with a documentary filmmaker to ask questions about his son's last days. "I think the military is covering up the effect of Lariam.  After a soldier dies, that's it; they don't want to get at the truth."