Lariam Label to Now Warn of Suicide
September 5, 2002
Drug maker Roche Pharmaceuticals has added a new warning to the label of the anti-malaria medication Lariam that alerts consumers to the drug's possible link to suicide. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Roche added the warning to "heighten awareness" of the medication's side effects after receiving reports of 11 suicides by people taking Lariam. The FDA has yet to determine if the drug actually contributed to the deaths. Lariam, however, has already been linked to severe paranoia and depression as well as to hallucinations and psychotic behavior. Roche plans to send warning letters to physicians informing them of the labeling change.
Late last month, the Pentagon decided to send a group of medical experts to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina to determine if a link exists between four recent murders and Lariam. Four soldiers believed to have taken the medication killed their wives within a six-week period.
-- Article Courtesy of InjuryBoard.com
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