Side effects of drug harms soldiers

[cynatnite]

SAN DIEGO - As a volunteer firefighter, Georg-Andreas Pogany had seen disfigured bodies pulled from wrecked cars. But something very different happened when the Army interrogator saw the mangled remains of an Iraqi soldier.

He became panicked, disoriented and that night reached for both his loaded pistol and rifle as he thought he saw the enemy bursting into his room. Pogany asked his superiors for help; the Army packed him home to face charges of cowardice — the first such case since Vietnam.

None of it made sense to Pogany until he learned more about the white pills the Army gave him each week to prevent malaria.

The drug's manufacturer warned of rare but severe side effects including paranoia and hallucinations. It became his defense: The pills made him snap. The Army dropped all charges, a spokesman later saying that Pogany "may have a medical problem that requires care and treatment."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=541&ncid=541&e=2&u=/ap/20050212/ap_on_he_me/military_s_malaria_drug