(NaturalNews) A pharmaceutical drug developed by the United States Army as a supposed treatment and preventive agent for malaria is instead proving to be an ineffective, deadly, psychotropic poison. The drug, known as mefloquine (or Lariam under its brand name), is reportedly causing British soldiers to develop severe depression and mental illness, and some political leaders are now calling for its removal from the official military drugging schedule.

Tory Parliament Member (MP) Johnny Mercer, a former army officer, is demanding that all administration of mefloquine be halted until further research into the drug's side effects is carried out for the safety of military servicemen. Mercer says he's received dozens of letters from soldiers and their families who say the drug induced serious health conditions that weren't present prior to taking the drug.

"I've had a letter about once or twice a week from not only constituents but people all over the U.K. who have suffered or know someone who has suffered, they believe, as a result of taking Lariam," Mercer told the Mirror.

"I just think we need to halt putting this drug out there for our guys and girls to use it until a proper study has been done, so that we know and more importantly our soldiers and their families know that this is a good defense against malaria and they can feel comfortable taking it."

U.S. government admits mefloquine can cause psychosis, depression, homicide and suicide

Lariam, as you may recall, is the same drug associated with the 2002 Fort Bragg murder-suicide case. Four soldiers stationed at this base reportedly murdered their wives while taking the drug, and two of them ended up committing suicide.

Mefloquine immediately became a suspect in this horrific event because it is known at the scientific level to cause neuropsychiatric adverse events. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) lists the following as side effects of mefloquine:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Psychosis
• Schizophrenia
• Feelings of mistrust towards others
• Hallucinations
• Thoughts of suicide or harming yourself
• Unusual behavior

Somehow, the possibility of catching malaria doesn't seem nearly as bad as losing your mind or killing yourself and your loved ones as a result of taking mefloquine. Nevertheless, mefloquine continues to be given to soldiers as some type of cure-all for malaria (which it's not), even when safe and effective alternatives like methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), or "Miracle Mineral Supplement," are already preventing and curing malaria without deadly side effects.

"Longer-term, the effects (of mefloquine) manifested into clinical depression -- something that is entirely new for me and which has a broad and devastating effect, especially on my family," stated one anonymous senior source in the British Army to BBC News, as relayed by the Mirror.

"I believe firmly that the mefloquine I was given by the Army as an anti-malarial has induced lasting psychotropic effects, as I have never been affected by anything like this before. As a once-proud officer and committed family man, I am now left struggling with depression, which is such a pervasive condition."

Doctor says mefloquine never should have been licensed in the first place

Following the 2002 murder-suicide tragedy at Fort Bragg, Dr. Remington Nevin, a consulting physician epidemiologist, conducted his own investigation into mefloquine and came to the conclusion that it never should have been licensed in the first place because it's not safe.

"Mefloquine is clearly too dangerous for continued use," Dr. Nevin stated. "And future antiviral [drugs] which share these properties should be banned."

Sources for this article include:

Mirror.co.uk

CBSNews.com

NLM.NIH.gov

NaturalNews.com

Army-Technology.com