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When bad prescription drugs go to war. What's behind the rash of military suicides?

Chief Warrant Officer William Howell was a 15-year Army Special Forces veteran who had seen combat duty all over the world. Sgt. 1st Class Andre McDaniel was a military accountant. Spc. Jeremy Wilson repaired electronics.

They had little in common, other than having served in Iraq with the 10th Special Forces Group based at Fort Carson, Colo. They did not know each other, and they had vastly different duties.

Each, however, committed suicide shortly after returning home, all within about a 17-month period.

[...]

Laura Howell said she blamed Lariam, an Army-issued anti-malaria drug, for her husband's suicide. The drug's manufacturer, Roche Pharmaceuticals, says side effects can include anxiety, paranoia, depression, hallucinations and psychotic behavior.

Earlier military murder-suicides and my own experience are entirely consistent with Laura Howell's explanation of her husband's death.

Lariam is an unbelievably irresponsible drug to prescribe to people with weapons. We can only hope that Roche's Lariam gets half the bad press that Merck's Vioxx got — the risks are so much higher with Lariam.

{ 3:56 PM }

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