Veterans allege the weekly
anti-malarial drug they were ordered to take during deployments does not show
up in their military medical records. Many say that has hindered their ability
to get the help from the VA that they desperately need.
If you served in the
United States military or traveled to a part of the world that's prone to
malaria, you may have been prescribed a small white pill called Mefloquine,
sold under the brand name, Lariam.
Many veterans, former
Peace Corps volunteers and other world travelers now say that weekly
anti-malarial pill ravaged their lives, causing psychiatric and physical damage
that is getting progressively worse each year.
An Army veteran named
Sean, who asked us to withhold his last name, said he took mefloquine while
serving in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004. He was 21 years old and didn't
consider questioning orders.
What Sean didn't expect
was that weekly dosage over the course of his deployment wouldn't show up in
his medical records. He said he's "100% sure" he took mefloquine.
That disconnect has left
him frustrated and angry when he's sought VA benefits related to the
depression, anxiety, insomnia and vertigo that plague his life now, at the age
of 35.
"I’ve resubmitted
claims multiple times to the VA and they’re saying, 'Oh, well, it’s not in your
medical record,' said Sean.
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