No evidence to link deaths by suicide of soldiers to anti-malarial drug Lariam, Dáil told

Minister for Defence Alan Shatter has defended the use of the anti-malarial drug Lariam for Irish soldiers, against claims linking it to suicide.

He told Sinn Féin defence spokesman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn that, of 156 non-service related deaths of personnel between January 2000 and 2010, 25 were apparently from self-inflicted injuries, although only one was recorded by a coroner as suicide.

Lariam had been prescribed in nine cases but “given the limited period of time during which Lariam remains in the bloodstream, according to our expert advice, it is extremely unlikely that the product could have been a contributory factor in practically all of these cases”.

He added: “There is no evidence in any of the coroners’ inquests linking any deaths to Lariam.”

Prescribed
Mr Shatter pointed out that in the 2000 to 2010 period when Lariam was prescribed, the death rate of Defence Forces personnel from self-inflicted injuries was 0.24 per cent. It was at a higher rate of 0.32 per cent, between 1989 and 1999 when the drug was not prescribed.

The Minister said malaria killed about one million people every year in sub-Saharan Africa alone and he insisted the Defence Forces' anti-malaria regime, including the use of Lariam, had worked. The Defence Forces were fully aware of the range of reported side-effects attaching to all anti-malarial medications. "Protocols are in place to control the risk of side-effects in individuals."

Mr Mac Lochlainn, who raised the issue in the wake of the RTÉ Prime Time programme on suicides apparently associated with the use of Lariam, asked why the US government had stopped use of the drug by its forces.

Mr Shatter said the US undertook the mass administration of the drug to its soldiers without any individual screening of personnel.

Protocols
Protocols in Ireland required the screening of each individual member to establish if there were contra-indications. The drug was also prescribed for a time before departure to establish any reaction.

But Mr Mac Lochlainn said mental health screening was very precarious and many people did not acknowledge they had mental health difficulties.