Military veteran targets use of anti-malarial drug by Canada’s armed forces
A 14-year military veteran brought his campaign across Western Canada to Edmonton on Wednesday to get the federal government to acknowledge the dangers of the antimalarial drug mefloquine and the permanent neurologic and psychiatric side effects it may have had on soldiers who were administered it.
A former member of Canada’s Airborne Regiment, Dave Bona has suffered for more than two decades from symptoms he said are directly linked to the use of mefloquine while posted overseas.
Bona took one tablet a week for his 81/2-month deployment in Somalia in 1992 and during his fivemonth deployment in Rwanda in 1994.
He said he has suffered ever since from a range of health issues including dizziness, balance issues, insomnia, anger issues and severe depression that didn’t respond to treatment.
After a series of high-profile concerns were raised in 2016 about the lingering effects its use has had on troops, the federal government launched two reviews into mefloquine, one by Health Canada and another by the Surgeon General for the Canadian military.
Both reviews found there was “limited evidence supporting that long-lasting and permanent neurological and psychiatric adverse events are caused by the use of mefloquine.”
Even though there was no “conclusive evidence” into its longterm effects, the Surgeon General recommended that mefloquine should be used in rare instances by troops and that two alternative drugs should be preferred.
“What an absolute joke,” Bona said Wednesday of the Surgeon General review while protesting outside Canada Place. “That is one of the most dangerous and irresponsible reports that has ever been published.”
Bona pointed to a 2013 decision by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to change its drug labelling to better reflect the risk of permanent neurologic and psychiatric side effects associated with the use of the drug.
The Saskatchewan resident said Ottawa hasn’t gone far enough and called for the drug to be banned outright.
“Why is this drug even licensed for use?” he said. “After all the things that have come to light about this drug, they still stay you can use it, but be aware (of its side effects). “It should not be used, period.”