WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (UPI) — A domestic violence expert who advises the Pentagon said Thursday that the military should look into whether an anti-malaria drug associated with aggression and suicidal thinking could have triggered any of the recent incidents in which Fort Bragg soldiers are suspected of killing their wives and, in two of the cases, also killed themselves.
Army troops in Afghanistan and other malarial countries are routinely prescribed Lariam, which is also known as mefloquine.
At least one of the four Fort Bragg soldiers suspected of killing his wife this summer, Sgt. 1st Class Rigoberto Nieves, had almost certainly been given Lariam, according to an Army medical source familiar with Nieves’ duty in Afghanistan. …
Lariam has been blamed for psychotic episodes and suicidal behavior for more than a decade. The official product information sheet for Lariam, written by drug manufacturer Hoffmann-La Roche and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, states that Lariam has been associated with aggression, paranoia and suicidal thoughts.