mefloquine was developed by the us army and is distributed by roche pharmaceuticals under the brand name lariam lariam was the focus of intense media scrutiny in two thousand and two after three soldiers from fort bragg killed their wives and ultimately committed suicide after returning from afghanistan all three were reported to have taken lariam while deployed in two thousand and three there was also reports of an increase in suicide among troops taking their eamonn iraq. part of every military mission is giving the troops the protection they need including medicines to prevent disease including malaria which kills at least seven hundred thousand people around the world each year thousands of u.s. troops in iraq received one of these drugs a drug called lariam and it may have prevented many soldiers from getting sick the question tonight is whether or not soldiers were adequately warned about its rare side effects serious life changing side effects in collaboration with u.p.i. investigative reporter mark benjamin cnn's investigative unit has been working on this story. first can l

ninety six by the british medical journal found that one in one hundred forty travelers taking mefloquine can expect to have a neuro psychiatric adverse event unpleasant enough to temporarily prevent them from carrying out their day to day activities. in march of two thousand and eight the malaria journal published a study conducted by the armed forces medical surveillance center. the study examine the medical records of over eleven thousand active duty military personnel deployed to afghanistan in two thousand and seven of that sample the report states that almost ten percent showed evidence of a contraindication to lariam with females more than twice as likely as males to suffer significant side effects yet the military continued to use the drug. the mental health evaluation also questions the care afforded john before his death ensley notes the johns medical records indicate he sought help for his symptoms and that after repeated doctor visits failed to find anything physically wrong with him john asked to be sent to germany for further testing his request was denied and he was sent to