Following four domestic homicides at Fort Bragg, N.C., this summer, the Pentagon has sent a medical team to investigate a possible link between the incidents and the anti-malaria drug Lariam.
All four of the couples reportedly had previous marital problems, and in each incident the husband is accused in the wife's death. Two of the husbands committed suicide immediately after the murder.
Rigoberto Nieves, William Wright and Brandon Floyd had all recently returned from Afghanistan and were taking Lariam to combat the malaria carried by mosquitoes in that country. Cedric Griffin, the fourth husband, had not been to Afghanistan and was not taking the drug.
According to a World Health Organization report issued in 2000, Lariam may cause anxiety, depression, difficulty sleeping and psychotic and paranoid reactions. The WHO reports the occurrence of serious side effects from the drug at one in 6,000 to one in about 10,000 users, among the millions who take Lariam each year.
Timothy Haystead, an associate professor of pharmacology at Duke who has researched anti-malaria drugs, said Lariam is effective. He said that although users have been known to experience hallucinations, it is a minor side effect.
"There's no scientific evidence out there that suggests [Lariam] would cause violent behavior," Haystead said.
Heather Wakefield, a registered nurse with Roche Pharmaceuticals, which produces Lariam, also said that in spite of minor side effects, Lariam has not been associated with violent crime or criminal conduct. "There's obviously no medication completely free of adverse events," she said, but added that the drug has been used for treating 25 million cases over the last 17 years and remains the drug of choice for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the WHO.
In addition to investigating possible impacts of Lariam, the Pentagon team will also examine the military lifestyle, with its long periods of separation and combat stress, as a possible factor in the killings.
Both Fort Bragg and surrounding Cumberland County offer social service resources to prevent violence and marital conflict, but most of the army's services are for active duty personnel, and family members are referred to outside providers for individual counseling.
"The programs are out there; it's just getting people to take advantage of them," said Crystal Black, program director of the Care Center at the Department of Social Services for Cumberland County. The county department offers transitional housing and a shelter for battered spouses and children, as well as counseling programs for abusers. Thirteen to 15 percent of their clients are associated with the military.
Every week, Black acts as a consultant with the military's social service personnel at a case review meeting, where they examine violence charges over the past week and compare notes on specific cases that both groups have dealt with.
She said that sometimes the military has only one side of the story, so the county will provide additional information.
As a precaution against future incidents, the army will begin mental screens for soldiers returning from Afghanistan. The report from the Pentagon medical team is expected to be released within the month.
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