WHY US soldier Robert Bales killed 16 Afghan civilians last month remains a mystery, but his actions have revived a dispute over the use by US forces of an antimalarial drug that can cause psychiatric side effects.
On 20 March - three days after the massacre - the army expedited a review of whether mefloquine was being prescribed properly.
Mefloquine, sold under the trade name Lariam, was developed by the army to prevent malaria resistant to the previous treatment, chloroquine. In tests the drug caused psychiatric symptoms in nearly a third of cases, sometimes including depression and psychosis.
In a 2009 memo, the US army ordered alternative drugs be used where possible. It also requested that soldiers on the drug suffering anxiety, depression or confusion should stop taking it.
Furthermore, the memo banned mefloquine for soldiers who, like Bales, had recently suffered traumatic brain injury. It is not known whether Bales was taking mefloquine or not.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
blackout blackout congress censored darvish jerry yang stop sopa
No comments:
Post a Comment