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drug_recall lariamA Lariam lawsuit is the civil legal action available to people who have suffered serious health problems as a result of taking this anti-malarial medication. Some experts have called Lariam the “New Agent Orange” because this medication has been associated with so many seriously injurious side effects. Lariam, or mefloquine hydrochloride, was developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute in conjunction with the World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO). This drug is manufactured by Swiss pharmaceutical company La Roche and was approved by the FDA in May 1989.
Lariam is an anti-malaria drug that is used as a prophylactic (preventative) and to treat patients who have developed malaria. Malaria is a life threatening disease that is carried by mosquitoes around the globe. Millions of travelers and military troops have been prescribed this potentially dangerous medication. Over 400,000 travelers are prescribed Lariam each year. Tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq have been prescribed Lariam since the war on terror began in 2001.
Reports about the dangerous side effects of Lariam first surfaced almost immediately after this drug was approved for use. In 1999 the World Health Organization published a report indicating that people who have taken Lariam have an increased risk for suffering serious neurological and psychiatric adverse events.
In 1994, La Roche conducted a safety report that revealed the risk of developing depression that could lead to suicidal ideations associated with taking Lariam. In 2002, La Roche published the following statement in patient product information, “[Lariam] may cause psychiatric symptoms in number of patients, ranging from anxiety, paranoia, and depression to hallucinations and psychotic behavior…Rare cases of suicidal ideation and suicide have been reported.” The FDA warns that the serious side effects associated with Lariam use can linger in a patient for weeks, months, and even years after treatment is discontinued. One study revealed that thirty percent of patients presenting adverse symptoms suffered these injuries for longer than four months after treatment was stopped.
Lariam lawsuits may be possible for people who have suffered the serious side effects associated with this medication. Lariam has been shown to cause brain stem damage, suicidal and violent behavior, convulsions, seizures, visual hallucinations, balance disorders, and psychosis; symptoms that can linger for a long time after treatment is terminated.
Recent concerns about Lariam and a surge of Lariam lawsuits is largely the response to a string of military homicides at Fort Bragg in 2002 and a number of suicides in the summer (malaria season) of 2003 committed by troops deployed in Iraq. The military denies that these suicides were caused by Lariam, though no studies have been offered to support this claim. The military prescribed Lariam to 45,000 troops last year alone.
Safety concerns about Lariam anti-malaria pill continues to be raised. After a Fort Carson Green Beret committed suicide weeks after returning home from Iraq, the Defense Department researchers have asked for a blood sample. The soldier was believed to...
The Pentagon announced in late February that it would look into whether a widely-used anti-malarial drug that the Army developed could be causing suicides. The announcement, made to Congress, came as a surprise, since the Pentagon had asserted only one...