Lariam: MOD's attitude to controversial anti-malaria drug is a 'bitter pill to swallow'
Hannah Swarbrick, Senior Associate in the Military Claims Team at Bolt Burdon Kemp, says settling veterans' claims after taking Lariam would set a marker against such a lax approach to the health and safety of service personnel.
It is welcome news that the Ministry of Defence has indicated it is ready to settle claims for hundreds of veterans who have suffered with serious side effects after taking the antimalarial drug Lariam.
It is thought that Lariam may have been prescribed to more than 20,000 troops over a 20-year period, despite the fact that it has long been known that it can cause serious side effects including depression, anxiety, hallucinations and nightmares, as well as symptoms such as headaches, dizziness and visual impairment.
It is recommended by the drug manufacturer, Roche, that individual medical assessments should take place prior to the drug being prescribed.
Lariam should not be prescribed to anyone with a previous history of psychiatric illness.
A Commons Defence Committee report published in 2016 on the use of Lariam for military personnel found that not only did these risk assessments not take place, but those who were prescribed Lariam were not warned about side effects, or told to seek medical attention if they experienced them.
This has led to many personnel and veterans suffering with symptoms for many years without knowing the cause, in some cases meaning they have been unable to access the appropriate treatment and support.
It is thought that a significant number of service personnel may have committed suicide after taking Lariam.
Defence ministers were criticised in the 2016 report for failings when it came to supporting victims.
At the time, the then-Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans issued an apology to those who had been wrongly prescribed Lariam.
Despite all of this, the MOD has up until now refused to settle claims brought on behalf of service personnel and veterans.
A lack of transparency in acknowledging the many failings that have occurred has meant that the majority of potential claimants have had their claims time barred in a miscarriage of justice that some have likened to the Horizon Post Office scandal.
The Government's Overseas Operations Act, which came into force in 2021, imposes a strict six-year statute of limitation for civil claims in relation to personnel serving overseas.
The 2016 report has led to a change in policy and Lariam is now only prescribed in exceptional circumstances and after the appropriate assessment has taken place.
The drug now accounts for about 0.1% of all antimalarials prescribed by service doctors.
There have always been a number of alternative antimalarial medications available which don't carry the same harmful side effects.
While this change is welcome and there is now an established precedent that medication should never be prescribed without risk assessment and informed consent, it is a bitter pill to swallow that there has not been proper accountability on the part of those overseeing our Armed Forces.
A settlement would represent an acknowledgement of these failings and would hopefully set a marker that such a lax approach to the health and safety of service personnel will never be allowed to happen again.
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