Nervewracking: US Army Tells Troops Not To Take Anti-Malaria Drug

Just weeks after the FDA boosted warnings on a widely used malaria drug called mefloquine because neurologic and psychiatric side effects may become permanent, the Surgeon General’s Office of the Army Special Operations, which includes such US forces as the Green Berets, ordered troops to immediately discontinue use. The move comes years after reports surfaced that the drug, which is also called Lariam and was sold by Roche before various generic versions appeared, could cause serious side effects that could last for years. The FDA announcement, however, was apparently the first time that the agency noted that neurological and psychiatric problems may persist and become irreversible (read here). Among the side effects are anxiety, depression and hallucinations, which some military families believe may have prompted the psychotic behavior in their loved ones, including killings and suicides, the Associated Press notes. For instance, other reports have noted that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who pleaded guilty in June to killing several Afghan civilians last year, had been prescribed the drug. This is “a wake-up call telling troops, ‘Look, you’ve been misinformed,’ “ Remington Nevin, a former US Army physician and epidemiologist who studies the psychiatric side effects of anti-malarial toxicity at the Department of Mental Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, tells the AP. He believes the Pentagon should have banned use years ago because the drug co...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs