A retired major general is among 1,000 British service personnel requiring psychiatric treatment after taking an anti-malarial drug issued by the Ministry of Defence . New figures released by the MoD show that since 2008 , 994 personnel have been treated for mental health issues after having been prescribed Lariam . Despite Lariam - the brand name for the drug mefloquine - being banned by the U.S. military due to concerns over side effects , the MoD has ignored appeals to stop prescribing it in what critics say is an escalating 'scandal ' . Major-General Alastair Duncan ( pictured ) is currently in a psychiatric unit after having been given the drug prior to a deployment in Sierra Leone . According to The Independent 's Jonathan Owen , retired Major General Alastair Duncan is currently in a psychiatric unit following a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder episode four months ago . Maj-Gen Duncan was given the drug Lariam before a deployment to Sierra Leone . His wife Ellen told the paper : 'If 1,000 troops have reported the effects then you can be sure there are others who have not . I know personally of several and anecdotally of many more . The long-term effects of this will be more and more in evidence over the coming years . ' Mrs Duncan 's comments follow those from string of former military servicemen who have hit out at the MoD over its continuing use of Lariam . General Lord Dannatt told the paper it was 'extraordinary ' the MoD continued to prescribe Lariam given the weight of evidence about its side effects , and urged it to use other anti-malaria medicines . Lariam 's use by the U.S. military has also been closely scrutinized . The drug has been heavily discredited by the country 's medicine watchdog . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns Lariam can cause serious mental health issues and should not be taken by anyone suffering from depression . These include anxiety , seizures , paranoia , hallucinations , and depression . In 2013 , the organisation gave it a 'boxed warning ' - the most serious of its kind - due to the neurological and psychiatric side effects associated with it . It stated : 'Neurologic side effects can occur at any time during drug use , and can last for months to years after the drug is stopped or can be permanent . ' It went on to state that such symptoms interfered with patients ' daily activities and ability to work , and in some cases were noticed after having taken only one or two doses . The U.S. military banned Lariam after it was linked to the case of Robert Bales , a soldier who massacred 16 Afghan civilians . Mefloquin is used to treat malaria and was developed by Army researchers towards the end of the Vietnam War . It gained support among the fighting forces because it works in areas where mosquitoes developed resistance to an earlier treatment , chloroquine , and requires just one tablet a week , not the daily dose needed with other medications . Side effects include seizures , depression , hallucinations , violent behaviour , feeling that others want to harm you , thoughts of hurting or killing yourself and many others . Almost four decades after inventing it , the U.S. Army pushed it to the back of its medicine cabinet . The about-face followed years of complaints and concerns that mefloquine caused psychiatric and physical side effects . In recent years , the Army slashed by almost 75 per cent the amount of mefloquine it prescribes , even as it sent thousands more soldiers to malaria-prone Afghanistan . Soldiers who had suffered from traumatic brain injuries were particularly advised against using it . 'Mefloquine is a zombie drug . It 's dangerous , and it should have been killed off years ago , ' said Dr. Remington Nevin , an epidemiologist and Army major who has published research that he said showed the drug can be potentially toxic to the brain .
Almost military personnel required psychiatric treatment after the drug . They were prescribed anti - malarial drug Lariam by the Ministry of Defence . The product 's side effects include psychosis and depression . Retired Major captain pat ##rick is currently in a psychiatric unit . He was prescribed the drug prior to a deployment in Sierra ##land .