Vet’s lawsuit blaming antimalarial drug for psychosis tossed
By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawsuit against the maker of an anti-malarial drug blamed for causing psychotic and neurological damage in U.S. servicemembers has been thrown out. U.S. District Court Judge Trina Thompson ruled late Monday that the lawsuit doesn’t belong in a California court. An Army veteran said Roche Laboratories Inc. and Genentech Inc. intentionally misled the Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration about the dangers of mefloquine, the generic version of the drug Lariam. The U.S. military gave the drug to hundreds of thousands of troops sent to Afghanistan and Somalia. The Pentagon eventually replaced the drug with safer alternatives.
