Taken As Directed

Taken As Directed

Troops ordered to take mefloquine in Afghanistan and Iraq have been diagnosed with mefloquine toxicity

which has damaged the brain’s balance (vestibular) system. This brain damage can be permanent.

Mefloquine is manufactured and distributed by the pharmaceutical giant Roche and sold under

the trade name “Lariam” (generic also available). More than 25 million travelers have used mefloquine,

which is the Department of Defense’s anti-malarial drug of choice and a favorite of travel clinics.

Taken As Directed challenges Lariam’s safety and tells the story of five people who had toxic reactions

to the drug.

Carlsbad resident Danny Rocha, 25, was 14 when mefloquine destroyed his balance system and any hope of an

athletic career before the Junior World Surfing Championship in Bali.

A three judge panel in Orange County, Calif.., decided on Sept. 8 that Rocha sustained chronic and long term

personal injuries, including permanent brain damage, caused by Lariam.

The documentary also profiles a former Camp Pendleton Marine who was given mefloquine while serving in

Somalia. Cpl. Patrick Farrell suffered severe side effects from the drug. His family says his adverse reaction

to mefloquine led to his suicide in 2000. Mefloquine was developed in the 1970s at Walter Reed Army Institute

of Research.

The FDA and Roche have been forced repeatedly to issue stronger safety warnings for Lariam. “Suicide” was added

to the label 2002. In 2003 Lariam joined the FDA list of 17 problem drugs that require doctors to issue a consumer

medication guide with every prescription.

In 2003, after a public outcry over the alarming spike in suicides among service members in Iraq, Department of Defense

advisors ordered a halt to Lariam use in Iraq.

More than 19 military cases of brain damage resulting from Lariam toxicity have been diagnosed,

many at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego.

DoD continues to use Lariam in Afghanistan and other countries in Asia, Africa, and South America where malaria

is a threat.

Taken As Directed tells the dark story of mefloquine hydrochloride, a drug with a troubling safety profile.

Current published scientific studies show that moderate to serious side effects of Lariam occur in up to 42%

of those people who take it.