In Harm’s Way

• subscribe to print magazine

• stay in touch with our email newsletter

  Subscribe to our regular weekly e-mail newsletter. It's packed with updates on recent and upcoming stories, events, campaigns and things every progressive should be informed about.

   

• email this article to a friend

  Your Name Your Email Recipient Email

  Personal message Thought you might be interested in this article from In These Times.

   

  Please help us prevent spam by verifying the word you see in the image above

  Send to multiple recipients. Just separate each email address with a comma.

• Reader Comments (7)

  Page 1 of 1 pages

  Dianne Feinstein in nothing more than a neo-con in Democrat drag.

  Posted by spritey on Feb 7, 2005 at 10:21 PM

  It seems so obvious as to be unquestionable. If the government is going to undertake a war, it owes military personnel an optimal level of support. This includes armor and it also includes medicine that actually keeps soldiers healthy as best can be provided. War costs fortunes, that’s clear from history, but trying to cut corners on soldiers’ health is not only unconscionable, it’s strategically foolish. If they’re going to be sent there to fight (wherever “there” is in the short or long term), they need to be backed, with adequate personnel to keep each other safe as well as succeed in their missions, with proper kit as to ammunition and armor and related gear, and with medical provisions that keep them well or treat their war-related maladies. And while we’re at it, the tradition of government trying to finnagle its way out of caring for them after the wars is further unconscionable and frankly sick. So much rhetoric about supporting the troops, so many mealy-mouthed attempts to do things on the cheap and to avoid obligations during and after the wars. What is support, anyway?

  Posted by Kuya on Feb 7, 2005 at 10:22 PM

  The soldiers who are raising the concern about Lariam are merely asking to be screened using modern technology to rule in or out damage from this drug.  Unfortunately, DoD is thwarting this effort by not referring them if they raise the issue.  Dianne Feinstein took on the issue because she had constituents that brought her the problem.  She is doing what we expect or elected officials to do.  Serve the people.  Any notion that this is a partisan attack is ill-conceived.  This is a soldier issue not a political football.

  Posted by Steve Robinson on Feb 8, 2005 at 6:50 PM

  I remember all the articles on Lariam back in 2002, and having researched the element; Fluorine, found that it is the most electro-negative and reactive of all the elements and will combine most all of them. Plus it crosses the blood brain barrier, which is why the EPA has nominated aluminum-fluoride for neurotoxic studies.  Plus, the Physicians Desk Reference, Drug Interactions - Additive Effects, notes many such reactions, especially with fluorinated drugs such as Cipro (Ciprofloxacin), antibacterial. So it is not surprising to see the effects noted here.

  Posted by Anita Knight on Feb 9, 2005 at 6:04 AM

  This is disturbing news, all the more so as Lariam is also widely prescribed prophilactically for tourists visiting malaria-prone regions of the world.

  Posted by Colin Brace on Feb 10, 2005 at 12:28 PM

  I HAVE BEEN SUFFERING FROM THE SIDE EFFECTS FROM LARIAM SINCE JULY 2004 A TOURIST GOING TO AFRICA I WAS ADVISED TO TAKE LARIAM PROTECTION AGAINST MALARIA TWO WEEKS AFTER I RETURNED AND AFTER TAKING MY LAST PILL I STARTED GETTING PAINS IN MY CHEST AND WAS HAVING TROUBLE BREATHING HOSPITALEZED ATRIAL FIBRILLATION DID NOT CONVERT BACK TO NORMAL RYTHEM WHEN I CAME HOME I STARTED GETTING   EPOSODES OF UNCONTROLABLE PANIC ATTACTS BALANCE ALSO BECAME A MAJOR PROBLEM I BROKE A   BONE IN MY FOOT OTHER SIDE EFFECTS STARTED TO MANIFEST THEMSELVES STARTED GOING TO MANY DOCTORS MEDICATION WAS PRESCRIBED   VERY DIFFICULT BATTLE   I WAS A TENNIS PLAYER WITH A VERY ACTIVE LIFE NOW THE QUALITY OF PERFORMANCE IS GONE

  Posted by MARILYN NASS on Mar 8, 2005 at 3:27 AM

  The book; The Coming Plague, by Laurie Garrett, has much about Lariam, and is available from the library.

  Posted by Anita Knight on Mar 8, 2005 at 5:18 AM

  Page 1 of 1 pages

• register a new account »Posting Security

  To participate in our forums, please register for a free account.

  Username Password

    Remember me
  

  Retreive lost password »

Also by Brian H. Kehrl

• In Harm’s Way
  The Pentagon's anti-malaria drug of choice can cause dangerous side effects
• Haiti Investigation Instigated
  Despite U.S. pressure, Caribbean nations force an examination into Aristide’s removal
• Dont Breathe Easy
  Experts link record rates of inner-city asthma to diminished air quality
• And Justice for All?
  Department of Justice seeks to weaken law protecting human rights
• The Task at Hand
  Will Cheney’s secret energy meetings see the light?