Lariam should be drug of last resort for UK troops say UK MPs
25 May 2016
MPs on the defence committee had described anti-malarial drug Lariam as the "drug of last resort" for UK troops.
The drug had been prescribed to at least 17,000 service personnel at least once between April 2007 and March 2015.
The MPs slammed the ministry of defence (MoD) over the use of the drug, which could cause severe side-effects, including depression and anxiety.
The MoD said the "vast majority of deployed personnel already receive alternatives to Lariam".
While was not the main anti-malarial drug used by the armed forces, critics argue its side-effects could be more detrimental to those serving in challenging and dangerous countries.
Malaria, a mosquito-borne infectious disease, which caused fever, headaches, vomiting and diarrhoea and could be fatal and in 2015, it killed about 438,000 people. There were were 214 million cases of the disease, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, according to World Health Organization.
According to the defence select committee which conducted a six-month inquiry, the potential side-effects were clearly highlighted by manufacturers Roche, but there was "strong anecdotal evidence" that the stringent conditions laid down for prescription were often disregarded.
Committee chairman Dr Julian Lewis said, "It seems quite clear that not only is the MoD unable to follow the manufacturer's guidelines for prescribing the drug in all instances, but a number of troops discard their Lariam rather than risk its potentially dangerous side-effects'' the BBC reported.
According to some ex-military personnel, they suffered hallucinations, severe depression, sleep deprivation and anxiety from using the drug.
Lariam was banned for use by US Special Forces in 2013, but in the UK it remained one the drugs of choice for military personnel in malarial areas.
The MoD had a stockpile of over 11,500 packs of the drug.
The committee said it had received evidence that a body of current and former service personnel had been adversely affected by the use of the drug and arrangements for supporting them were 'inadequate'.