Links Sought in Killings of Soldiers’ Spouses

The Army is sending a team of specialists to Ft. Bragg, N.C., on Sunday to investigate common factors among four soldiers accused of killing their wives, including possible side effects from an antimalarial drug prescribed to troops who fought in Afghanistan.

Army spokeswoman Elaine Kanellis said Thursday that the probe would examine “any possible physical, behavioral and any pharmaceutical aspects” the soldiers have in common. That includes probing their use of Lariam, a popular antimalarial drug, that has been cited in a spate of lawsuits alleging it contributes to psychological problems, including suicide.

“If you have a cluster of incidents anywhere ... you would definitely want to see if any incidents were related,” Kanellis said at the Pentagon.

She emphasized that the team from the Army’s headquarters, including two specialists from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, would examine “all medical aspects of the recent incidents,” and not merely a link to the drug. Top Army brass got involved after an ongoing review by officials at Ft. Bragg that began after four men allegedly killed their wives in a span of six weeks. Two of the men committed suicide.

“Nothing in that investigation so far suggests that the FDA-approved antimalarial drug Lariam is a factor, said Ft. Bragg Garrison Commander Col. Tad Davis, referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The drug, known generically as mefloquine, is one of two obvious links connecting the soldiers. The other was the men’s military history; three were special operations soldiers who recently had returned from Afghanistan. None of the men knew one another, military officials said, prompting investigators to seek other connections.

Army officials declined to say how many of the men had been prescribed Lariam, but a lawyer for one of the men confirmed that his client had taken the drug. The other two who had returned from Afghanistan are likely among the thousands of soldiers prescribed the drug before they can go to nations where malaria poses a significant risk, such as Afghanistan. About 25 million people have taken Lariam over the last 17 years, including many soldiers and Peace Corps workers. Some have complained of psychological side effects that, in extreme cases, include vivid nightmares and hallucinations.

Lariam has spawned lawsuits from the United States to Denmark. A group called Lariam Action, which solicits signatures on its Web site for a petition seeking a congressional investigation of the drug, said many soldiers have said they have complained to the military about the drug’s side effects.

“They were not able to ever get the military to ever look into the possibility that the side effects could have been caused by Lariam,” said Jeanne Lese of San Rafael, a co-director of the group.

A spokesman for the drug’s manufacturer, Nutley, N.J.-based Hoffman-La Roche, did not return calls seeking comment, instead sending a statement noting that the drug provides protection from a disease that affects about 300 million people each year and kills 2 million.

“There is no medication completely free of adverse events,” the statement said. “Antimalarial medications including Lariam are no exception. However, it is important to note that Lariam is not associated with violent, criminal conduct.”

Side effects listed on the drug’s label include “convulsions, depression, hallucinations, psychotic or paranoid reactions, anxiety, agitation, aggression.”

The label warns that Lariam should not be prescribed for patients “with active depression or with a history of psychosis or convulsions.” It also says the drug increases the risk of convulsions for epileptics, and warns the drug should be stopped “if signs of acute anxiety, depression, restlessness or confusion occur” because they could precede “a more serious event.”

The label notes, “Suicidal ideation has also rarely been reported, but no relationship to drug administration has been established.”

Yet one malaria specialist said the Ft. Bragg cases appeared too locally concentrated to blame Lariam.

“It’s within the realm of possibility, but it seems to be very unlikely that it’s a direct cause,” said Dr. David Sullivan, a researcher at the Malaria Research Institute at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University, who suggested the soldiers might have suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

“If it was just the drug, we should have more suicides, because servicemen are on Lariam all the time, even on peaceful missions in these areas. If it’s just the drug, you should have the same thing in people who are not exposed to a horrific encounter with the enemy.”

Sullivan puts the incidence of psychological side effects at 0.1% to 1% of the millions of people who have taken the drug.

But a 2000 study presented at a conference in Toronto found that 20% of patients experienced some “neuropsychiatric” side effects.

The slayings began June 11, when Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Rigoberto Nieves fatally shot his wife and then himself two days after he returned from Afghanistan. Then another Green Beret, Master Sgt. William Wright, on July 19 confessed to strangling his estranged wife, Jennifer. That same day, Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Floyd, a member of the secret Delta Force, shot his wife, Andrea, then killed himself.

One Army official noted that the incident occurred six months after Floyd returned from Afghanistan and, presumably, had stopped taking the drug.

The last incident occurred July 9, when Sgt. Cedric Ramon Griffin of the 37th Engineer Battalion allegedly stabbed his estranged wife 50 times and set her body on fire, police said.

All of the couples had reportedly had domestic disputes, according to police and neighbors. Studies have found that military families have a higher rate of domestic abuse than civilian families.

“There probably needs to be better education and awareness,” said Maj. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for the Army’s Special Operations Command at the base. “But we’re not really sure how we can do that. We only have so much influence on the spouses of the soldiers that are in special operations.

“We can’t make things mandatory for them to be involved. We would hope that they are very proactive and try to seek assistance when they can.”