MOD facing 686 claims from troops alleging harm from side effects of anti-malaria drug

A total of 686 common law claims have so far been made against the Ministry of Defence (MOD) for alleged side effects relating to the use of the anti-malaria drug Lariam, according to the Government.

Mefloquine, or Lariam (one of its brand names), have been linked to severe depression and other mental illnesses and the Ministry of Defence has been urged in the past to stop giving troops the drug. 

Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey asked Defence Minister Dr Andrew Murrison if the government will assess the implications of policies on prescribing Lariam to Armed Forces personnel, given the potential side effects.

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Dr Murrison said anti-malaria drugs, including Mefloquine, are only prescribed after a face-to-face individual risk assessment.

He went on to say any recommended anti-malaria drug is influenced by the sensitivity of malaria parasites to the drug in different regions of the world, based on Public Health England guidance.

He added that Mefloquine is only prescribed by a doctor and after other options have been deemed unsuitable. It is not given to divers, aircrew, or air traffic controllers.

Side effects for all anti-malaria drugs can be found in the British National Formulary (BNF) online: https://bnf.nice.org.uk or the Electronic Medicines Compendium at https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc.

All suspected side effects to anti-malaria drugs are recorded in the Defence Medical Information Capability Programme (DMICP) and reported to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

A year-on-year record, as provided by Dr Murrison, for the number of UK Armed Forces personnel prescribed Mefloquine is as follows:

2010: 3,149

2011: 2,816 

2012: 2,108 

2013: 3,276 

2014: 1,979

2015: 1,961

2016: 919

2017: 94

2018: 25

2019: 19

2020: 10

2021: 8

2022: 12

2023: 4* (*includes data from 1 January 2023 to 30 September 2023 only)