Anti-malarial meds and psychosis

Army To Probe Health Issues In Slay

August 23, 2002
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Army will send a team of medical experts to Fort Bragg, N.C., next week to study a wide range of health-related issues that might explain a series of domestic killings.

The Army said in a written statement Friday that the epidemiological team will not focus mainly on the possibility of a link between the killings and soldiers' use of an anti-malaria medication.
"Contrary to news reports speculating that the team will focus primarily on anti-malaria prophylaxis/medications taken by soldiers, the team will consult with local medical and unit/installation leadership at Fort Bragg on a wide variety of possible contributing factors," it said.

The team will look into cultural and other issues not unique to Fort Bragg, the statement said.
Consultants in psychology, social work and psychiatry will joint Army epidemiologists and chaplains as well as officials from the government's Centers for Disease Control. In addition to health issues, they will assess the Army's family education programs, practices and support services.

"Members will also look at specific data associated with recent cases looking for patterns, organizational dynamics and medical issues that may have contributing significance," the Army statement said.

Three of the four Fort Bragg soldiers who investigators say killed their wives this summer were special operations troops who had been deployed to Afghanistan, where the risk of malaria is high. Army officials would not say if the men had taken the Army's preferred anti-malaria drug, Lariam.

Two of the soldiers killed themselves after killing their wives.

Lariam carries rare reported side effects including agitation, depression and aggression.
"There's no reason to believe right now that Lariam affected the behavior of the individuals," Army spokeswoman Elaine Kanellis said earlier this week.

The manufacturer of Lariam, Roche Laboratories, acknowledges reports of suicide and suicidal thoughts attributed to Lariam, also known as mefloquine. But company spokesman Terence Hurley said they are extremely rare, "only a small percentage of the more than 25 million people that have successfully used Lariam."

The World Health Organization puts the incidence of serious neuropsychiatric effects from the drug at 5 in 100,000. Out of millions of travelers given mefloquine each year, between 1 in 6,000 to 1 in about 10,000 will experience some kind of serious adverse reaction, the WHO says.

Copyright 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.