WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- The Army says it is "pretty sure" that the anti-malaria drug Lariam was not a factor in a recent string of homicides and suicides at Fort Bragg, N.C., and it may be eliminated as a suspect, a top Army official told reporters Monday. Top Stories . Saudis oppose attack on Iraq . Too much focus on being cops . Afghanistan set to release fighters . Baltimore-D.C. loses bid for 2012 Olympics . Collapse of stocks to propel deficits . Pentagon to track disease outbreaks . GOP places bet on Louisiana race
Near Fort Bragg, the North Carolina base where four soldiers are suspected of killing their wives this summer, Army Undersecretary Les Brownlee told reporters Monday that "most of the medical people" he has talked to believe Lariam played no role in the deaths.
"But we want to be sure," he said, "and most importantly, we may not be able to determine if it is the factor, but maybe we can take it off the list, as we are pretty sure it is not."
Brownlee, who was in North Carolina on other Army business, is the highest-ranking official to speak publicly so far on the issue. He noted that an epidemiology team was sent by the Army to Fort Bragg on Sunday to look into all possible issues in the deaths "to determine if in fact there is any basis for suspecting that Lariam might have been a causal factor."
Three of the men suspected in the Fort Bragg killings were special operations soldiers who had returned from Afghanistan. The Army would not say whether the men took Lariam, known generically as mefloquine, which is the Army's drug of choice against malaria in that region. United Press International reported earlier this month that all three had been given Lariam, according to people familiar with them.
One of the men is charged with murder; the other two killed themselves after killing their wives, authorities said.
Lariam is associated with mental problems including psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations and aggression, according to drug manufacturer Hoffmann-La Roche. In July, the company added a warning to the product information sheet about reports of suicides, and also said mental problems can last well after a patient stops taking the drug.
The company and the Food and Drug Administration say the risk of death from malaria as a result of not using preventative medication such as Lariam far outweighs any possible risk from side effects.
Lariam is one of three drugs recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the prevention of malaria. The other two must be taken daily; Lariam is taken weekly. The FDA says that is a strong argument in favor of Lariam, because if travelers forget even one dose of the daily pills, they are at risk of catching malaria.
UPI has been conducting a six-month investigation of Lariam.
-- In a May 21 article, UPI reported that in thousands of pages of internal documents spanning a decade, Hoffmann-La Roche tracked increasing reports of suicides, suicidal behavior and other mental problems among Lariam users. A review of four years of reports filed to the FDA found 11 suicides attributed to Lariam, and one expert on drug side effects said he believes the number easily could be 100 times higher.
-- In July, UPI reported that scores of Peace Corps volunteers are coming forward saying that during the past 12 years, they suffered crippling paranoia, anxiety, hallucinations, memory loss, suicidal behavior and physical ailments they attributed to Lariam. Many volunteers said the problems had persisted for years. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who chairs the committee overseeing the Peace Corps and is a former volunteer, called for an independent medical investigation of the matter based on the UPI report.