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Army Reviews Controversial Drug After Afghan Massacre
Hugh Pickens writes "Time Magazine reports that after the massacre in which Staff Sgt. Robert Bales allegedly killed 17 civilians in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has ordered an urgent review of the use of the anti-malarial drug mefloquine, also known as Lariam, known to have severe psychiatric side effects including psychotic behavior, paranoia and hallucinations. 'One obvious question to consider is whether he was on mefloquine (Lariam), an anti-malarial medication,' writes Elspeth Cameron Ritchie in Time. 'This medication has been increasingly associated with neuropsychiatric side effects, including depression, psychosis, and suicidal ideation.' The drug has been implicated in numerous suicides and homicides, including deaths in the U.S. military. For years the military used the weekly pill to help prevent malaria among deployed troops, however in 2009 the U.S. Army nearly dropped use of mefloquine entirely because of the dangers, using it only in limited circumstances, including sometimes in Afghanistan. Army and Pentagon officials would not say whether Bales took the drug, citing privacy rules. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Jonathan Woodson has ordered a new, urgent review to make sure that troops were not getting the drug inappropriately. 'Some deployed service members may be prescribed mefloquine (PDF) for malaria prophylaxis without appropriate documentation in their medical records and without proper screening for contraindications,' the order says. It notes that this review must include troops at 'deployed locations.'"
I thought this site was about IT, and Technology? Since when has /. become side show for Foxnews and CNN?
-- By all means let's be open-minded, but not so open-minded that our brains drop out.
Obviously it's pure speculation, but I have a hard time believing this would mitigate any punishment Bales receives. It would be a nightmare of the most extreme order for the military should Bales be exculpated, even in the most limited sense. The Afghans have been screaming for him to be tried under Afghan law. It would be hard enough to punishment short of the death penalty to the Afghan public, much less an outcome that ends with him in psychiatric care first. This is just one more massive headache in a case that can't be over for the Pentagon fast enough.
In the mean time, expect relations to continue to deteriorate between Afghan security forces and ISAF troops. There is real danger of this review fueling conspiracy theories and sparking further knife-in-the-back attacks on ISAF troops like we've already seen.
It increasingly seems that no one is winning from this war. Afghan civilians have had any sense that westerners provide safety shattered. Westerners trust their Afghan counterparts even less. And yet most of Afghan development depends on the industry that supports the international presence there, which a hasty pull-out would destroy. What's the least bad option here?
I got a catholic block.
Sounds like a scapegoat to me. Shouldn't the medical personnel responsible for his presumed prescription then be prosecuted?
"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)
This sounds like it will be a easy scapegoat for the entire massacre, rather than the fact that the individual was responsible, or the military in general.
Army coverup?
Army coverup.
Ill call it now: this war crime will go unpunished as ALL American war crimes do.
How convenient. It wasn't the brave, heroic soldier's fault who literally bursts with integrity and honour. It was all the bad, bad drug. How unfortunate! The mass murderer really is a golly good chap after all. What a relief! Now please stop questioning our morals, leadership and environment in which soldiers are trained and live. Nothing to see here, good citizen.
and then no person has to accept responsability
Firefly? U.S military reavers in Afghanistan.
I can attest to this drugs potency, I've used it on two instances, and on one I suffered mightily the day and night after I took my weekly dose. Another of my friends was hospitalized after a psychotic episode on this drug. A girl I used to date used this drug for 2+ years during a posting to Sierra Leone in the military, apparently without any long term effect...but well beyond any duration it had been certified and tested for...however the flip side is that the initial brigade that was sent to Sierra Leone in a hurry were not on an anti-malarial and a large number came down with serious Malaria. Luckily there are much better alternatives in 2012, and I think it's somewhat weak to see this in the press...if it's being doled out to troops in this environment still then that is wrong and someone should get on it now, but this tabloid journalism and new culture of Mil/Gov leaks to the worthless press is ridiculous. Solve the friggin' problem, don't play some political game of buck passing in the headlines
Having known someone who suffered from Lariam induced psychosis some years ago, I find it shocking beyond belief that they would give this stuff to men with guns.
Whether Bales was suffering from such psychosis at the time should be considered secondary - the US military was giving its soldiers a drug that can lead to violent psychotic episodes. The person who made that decision needs to be escorted to the cell adjoining Bales'.
they might never have had to use the drug.
Similar plot as an old "Law and Order" rerun that was on the other day.
US soldier goes on psychotic killing spree on civilians, the US Army evacuates that soldier to their country and the US government refuses to let this psycho face the law.
Compare and contrast to someone on non-US soil doing something not illegal and doing no damage. For five years the US government will INSIST that this person is extradited to face justice.
WORSE, the UK government lets them.
Possibly in case the US army personnel go psycho nutcase in the UK and spirited away.
(it's sort of the opposite of extraordinary rendition)
Check out this documentary. Many if not most soldiers deployed are prescribed all kinds of nasty stuff.
BTW I just minted the term in my subject, I think, it's not from the linked video.
The radio series "This American Life" did a story about a guy who traveled to India and lost his marbles on Mefloquine. Look for "Contents Unknown".
.. pa-ra-bo-la, pa-ra-bo-la, 2 pi R, 2 pi R, where's your latus rectum, where's your latus rectum, 2 pi R
That we review the controversial word 'controversial'. It is horribly overused and misused.
Mefloquine isn't 'controversial'. It has well-known psychiatric side effects and well-known efficacy as an antimalarial prophylactic.
of course, if you're daft enough to join the military as cannon fodder ...
And they will give you poison that will drive you insane!
Yeah, like I would tell my grandson to join this mess!
I killed da wabbit -Elmer Fudd
From my own experience I can say that Lariam induces quite intensive dreams, but unfortunately I never got any hallucinations. Who needs LSD if legal alternative is available over the counter?
This project has raked billions through the business of government. At the top of the pyramid, the elite who make the decisions do not care where the money comes from or where it goes -- what matters is that it passes through their hands, giving them a chance to exploit that cash flow for personal gain.
In conclusion, this project has only increased the net worth of the business of government. At the top of the pyramid, that is the entire goal. We know this because the balance sheet doesn't lie, and neither does history.
You're not in the business of government, are you?
In what way did they have to use the drug at all?
It's like the LSD they've been warning us about. What doses is the insanity available in?
It's so silly how they keep blaming drugs when the problem is due to mental disorders caused by shell shock, religion, and all sorts of other traumatic experiences we put people into for "Freedom".
The americans will find any excuse they can for this mass-murdering grunt, won't they? He'll never see a day of jail time. As long as it's muslims being shot and killed that's just fine by most of the "south will rise again" shitheads that have taken over the country.
If you're wondering why the rest of the world despises and wants to destroy you, keep a close eye on this case, and the inevitable result (Bales walking free). The americans aren't accountable for any of their actions as far as they're concerned -- I think September 11th was a good reminder of what will happen if they push the world too far. A well deserved reminder.
The article is wrong. This study was ordered prior to the incident and is part of their regular reviews of all medical treatments.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
With some rather pleasant non-psychotic side effects...
I'm just asking, whatever the fuck happened to Gin and Tonic?
You work for PETA, don't you?
How do you define intelligence tool?
Creativity? Processing ability? Or productivity even? Emotional sentience perhaps?
While I don't think humans are stupid, I'd rather not listen to a dumb ass claim he is smarter than all other living creatures on earth.
After about 6 weeks, I stopped taking it. The 2-3 days after my once a week pill (dose) I was out of my mind agressive and slightly disconnected with reality. I chose to risk malaria when traveling around east africa over the side effects of the drug. Others with me felt the same way though their side effects were a bit diffrent. When I returned to the states I did a litte research and found hallucinations were a rare side effect and a few people had compleat permanant mental breakdowns. I thought there was a class actin lawsuits and it was removed from the market (not that that always effect the military)
They come in the dark, only in the darkest.
Did it occur to anybody besides me that violent behavior is something that *should* be encouraged in a soldier? I'm not seeing how a drug with these observed effects gets anybody off the hook for that Afghan massacre -- not Bales, not his squad mates, nor his commanders. The massacre was the result of failure to manage Bales, period. He's a trained killer, and one with a history of deceiving people for monetary gain predating his enlistment in the military. It also looks like the military ignored some red flags, including his propensity for violent confrontation, about him long before he deployed to Afghanistan, if the stories about his security clearance are even close to accurate.
How does the presence of this drug, with its documented behavioral side effects that is routinely supplied to soldiers, coupled with what looks like malfeasance on the part of the military in not acting on information that was publicly available on Bales, exculpate anybody for this senseless tragedy?
Check out the story from David Maclean here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/399/transcript
The story starts about 2/3 of the way down the page. Just search for Lariam, and it will put you in about the right spot.
Just last night my brother, who is a Professor at UMN Winona, mentioned he was doing a study of this drug with mice.
This stuff is given to pretty much all Peace Corps Volunteers in malarial zones. Speaking from long term experience, it sucks ass. I made it about a year before I nearly lost the ability to sleep. I was then placed on Doxycyclene which worked ... never got malaria myself. The other option, Malerone, is like 10x as expensive. Neither Doxy or Mal is nearly as good ad malaria prevention, as have to be taken daily ISO weekly, so medical officers are hesitant to make a switch unless things have gotten pretty bad.
I would say 50% of my fellow PCVs made it two years on Larium, and many blamed their psychological evacuations (wacky-vacs in Peace Corps lingo) at least in part on it. There is no way in hell anyone with access to firearms should be allowed within ten feet of this stuff.
of the multiple military tribunal rulings resulting in acquittals and no jail time, it's fairly obvious killing brown people (especially non-christian ones) is not considered more than a misdemeanor by the US military.
The side effects of mefloquine are well known. Thats why, in the UK at least, people are not prescribed it without having first tested its effects.
Sure some people have side-effects, but you have to remember it's one of the most effective anti-malarial drugs out there for those that don't. Which is the majority of people.
Jacob's Ladder
There is no reason I know of for anyone to be using lariam anymore, except possibly for cost. Malarone(=atovaquone=proguanil) is much safer.
Find free books.
Wasn't this a Law & Order episode?
What, the same medical personnel who also forcibly issue Anthrax vaccine to evey soldier and deployed civilian, despite the health concerns surrounding it? None of these fuckers give a shit about the health of our troops. They are nothing more than walking chemistry labs to be experimented upon at will. If you want to start holding somebody responsible, you basically have to shoot the President of the United States in the head.
Hi NSA! Go fuck yourselves.
Caspian Sea oil and gas unrecovered reserves are enormous, valued at over $10 trillion. Iran is currently a transit country for this, but the aim is to use Afghanistan instead. The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline is a big part of this. Plans for an Afghan pipeline have been in the making for a long time, U.S. Congress testimony in 1998:
Mr. MARESCA. It's not going to be built until there is a single Afghan Government. That's the simple answer. We would not want to be in the situation where we became the target of the other faction. In any case, because of the financing situation, credits are not going to be available until there is a recognized government of Afghanistan.
Mr. BEREUTER. So you are not making any suggestions about the prospects of that or timing of that. It's just you are not going to move or it's not going to be moved from another source until that happens. That would be your judgment?
Mr. MARESCA. That's my judgment. We do of course follow very closely the negotiations which have been going on. We are hopeful that they will lead somewhere. All wars end. I think that's a universal rule. So one of these days this war too will end. Then I believe the pipeline will be secure.
That war (officially) ended thanks to the U.S. military, Afghanistan was (officially) unified under the Karzai government, and in 2002 Karzai signed the TAPI pipeline deal. Very fast given the complexity of such a deal. The U.S. has invested $0.5 trillion in the Afghan War so far, that's quite a lot just to bring bin Laden to justice. That $0.5 trillion didn't magically disappear - it was given to corporations which have profited handsomely from this war. Some stand to profit even more in the future from the ability to export Caspian Sea oil and gas through Afghanistan. And it also isolates Iran further.
Is it all a coincidence? It does seem awfully convenient...
Actually, my wife has just said to me that paracetamol has more documented cases of causing psychosis as a side effect than Lariam...
Other than pointing out that paracetamol also has potential for psychosis, what does this tell you? Paracetamol is vastly more widely used than Mefloquine. Even if the risk from paracetamol was only 1% of that from mefloquine, you could still see more documented cases of psychosis.
When I deployed to Iraq we were given the option of getting Anthrax vaccinations. As expected almost no one volunteered. About six months laterr we were "voluntold". I am now immunized against Anthrax if I touch it. If I breath Anthrax I'm still fucked. Totally worth the cancer I'm gonna get 15 years from now
If there is no God then free will is an illusion.
Soldiers suffer from shell shock and go crazy doing what they do with or without drugs. It seems more convenient to blame "fuck ups" like these on a drug than on the simple fact that war causes horrible suffering and stress on both sides of a conflict and is expecially difficult to handle for soldiers who consciously or subconsciously feel they are occupying a country for dubious reasons. Blaming this one incident on a drug instead of on American foreign policy in general is easier for the party who is actually responsible for these atrosities.
If Macciavelli had known about drugs that "may" cause such behaviour, I'm sure he would have recommended the Prince give them to all soldiers, in case the shit hit the fan and you had to put the blame on something. Smart man - Macchiavelli.
Sounds like Clausewitz' conception of war
Also, to refer to "It's about finding out who loses less" in buchner.johannes' post and "making it unacceptably costly for your opponent to resist your political will" in yours - make it more costly for them than for you.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Drugged or not, how could he possibly walk out of a military complex, in a war zone, during the night, armed with war weapons, without anyone noticing him?
So how are these new fancy drugs are working out for you kids? In my days we only drank gintonic and I assure you our minds were completely ... oh wait.
Anti-malaria drugs like Mefloquine and Quinine are suitable for short stays in at risk areas. After a few months the side effects can become intolerable. The spread of malaria can also be mitigated by using mosquito nets, repellent and staying away from places with standing water. Treatment after exposure to malaria is usually quite effective. I think that if it turns out mefloquine was a factor in this incident, its widespread long-term use in these areas should definitely come under review.
And as usual, a story about a potentially dangerous drug goes compleatly ignored.
Big Pharma runs the show. I tried to tell you.