1300 troops took 'guinea pig' drug (Oz)

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http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11241928%5E421,00.html

 

1300 troops took 'guinea pig' drug

By Luke McIlveen and Ian McPhedran

October 31, 2004

 

THE Army has admitted more than 1300 troops who served in East Timor

were given an anti-malaria drug with potentially devastating side effects.

 

Army chief Peter Leahy was forced to disclose the real number of

troops used as guinea pigs, after an investigation by The Sunday Mail

found hundreds of them suffered depression and psychotic episodes as a

result of taking Larium.

 

Brisbane legal firm Quinn and Scattini is launching a class action

against the army on behalf of present and former personnel who took

Larium while in East Timor.

 

It can also be revealed that hundreds of Australian soldiers in Timor

were used to test another anti-malarial drug being developed by the US

Army.

 

Troops were told the mystery drug would leave calcium deposits on

their eyes, but were assured these would " disappear after about six

months " .

 

 

Lieutenant-General Leahy's account of the clinical trials done on 1351

soldiers contradicts that of the military's medical chief, Air

Commodore Tony Austin, who said the number of those on Larium was in

the " dozens rather than hundreds " .

 

" All drugs have some side effects and no drug is risk-free, but the

risk of death from malaria is much greater than the risks associated

with taking the anti-malarial drugs prescribed in the ADF (Australian

Defence Forces), " Lt-Gen Leahy said in a signal sent to every member

of the army. Studies showed the soldiers from the 1RAR, 2RAR and 4RAR

battalions suffered nothing more serious than " sleep disturbance " .

 

More than 250 present and former soldiers are suing the army for loss

of income, mental trauma and family breakdown in one of the biggest

class actions against the military.

 

Quinn and Scattini also plans to launch a product liability suit in

the US Supreme Court against the manufacturers of Larium,

pharmaceutical giant Roche.

 

Australian troops were also signed up to trial the unauthorised

malaria drug Tafenoquine, which left soldiers with calcium deposits in

their eyes.

 

The drug was not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Soldiers from Townsville-based 1RAR battalion were told the research

was being done for the US Army and health giant GlaxoSmithKline.

 

" We know from the examinations in the soldiers that deposits disappear

after about six months, " senior army medical officer Lt Colonel Peter

Nasveld said in a letter to troops after the trials.

 

Hundreds of soldiers have come forward to tell of their experience

with Larium while serving in East Timor between 1999 and 2003.

 

Army chiefs in Canberra claim the trials were voluntary, but soldiers

have described how they were ordered to take the drug or stay at home.

 

Private Jason Rule, who served in the 1RAR battalion in East Timor in

1999, said his army career was ruined by the Larium pill he took

weekly for six months.

 

" We were in no doubt that if we didn't take the Larium we would not be

going to East Timor, " he said.

 

Fellow 1RAR Private Duncan Carter, who did two tours of East Timor

before leaving the army in March, said he suffered anger and stomach

problems, and paranoia.

 

" We have to speak out, because the army is not going to address the

problem unless it is forced to take responsibility, " he said.

 

Lt-Gen Peter Leahy denied Larium was to blame for the severe problems

suffered.

 

" The studies concluded that mefloquine (the main ingredient in Larium)

is a safe and effective means of preventing malaria for the ADF under

operational field conditions, " he said.

 

The Sunday Mail (Qld)