March 5th, 2004

"Army to Investigate Role of Lariam in Suicides"

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 month before that the drug could not be a factor.

Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, told a House Armed Services Committee panel that he was launching a study of Lariam''s side effects, "to include suicide and neuropsychiatric outcomes."

The Pentagon is appointing a panel to help design the study, Winkenwerder announced, but it could take months or years for the study to reach completion. Pentagon officials stated that they would no longer use Lariam in Iraq, because the malaria risk does not warrant it.

The suicides that the Pentagon plans to study occurred in Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Winkenwerder said that 21 Army soldiers from units assigned to that operation have committed suicide. The Army is also investigating another five deaths in Iraq as potential suicides, and six more deaths among soldiers who returned to the United States from deployment in Iraq and then committed suicide.

Asked about the investigation in January, Army spokeswoman Martha Rudd said that the Pentagon was not taking Lariam use into account. "We don''t believe that there is any connection between Lariam and suicide," Rudd said. "There is nothing to indicate that is a factor."

Lariam (generic name, mefloquine) was developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. It is one drug used by soldiers in Iraq to prevent malaria, particularly during hot summer months. The Food and Drug Administration warns that Lariam can cause psychosis, aggression, paranoia, depression, and thoughts of suicide. The FDA also notes that there have been reports of suicide among Lariam users, although a definitive link has not been established.

In October of 2003, Senator Dianne Feinstein asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to rethink the use of the drug for military personnel "Given the mounting concerns about Lariam as expressed by civilians, service members and medical experts about its known serious side effects, I strongly urge you to reassess the (Defense Department''s) policy on the use of Lariam," she wrote.

Veterans groups and others have voiced concern about the Army''s refusal to investigate the possible association of Lariam with suicide among the troops. A veteran''s advocate with the National Gulf War Resource Center, Steve Robinson, told a House panel last month that he was concerned about the mental stress of war and asked for an investigation into Lariam.

"The military is ignoring this drug''s known side effects," said Robinson. "In some cases, they are lying to the family members and act as if they are baffled by the high suicide and depression rates."