WELCOME...you are on a page that contains WARNINGS and news
that, IF published in your local paper, was probably tucked
away in the middle of the paper and you never found time to read it...so
we will call it....PAGE 4 NEWS!
As you read...feel free to 'play' connect the dots, but consider yourself
warned....it's not a pretty picture!
You can click here
to get back to a page that contains a navigational bar.
...Lariam
WARNING Label
....PAGE 4 NEWS 'new' 2-22-05 Fallujah: the truth at last...by Dr. Salam Ismael...Socialist Worker
- online...Saturday, February 19, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS 'new' 2-22-05 Sorrow and fury as
the dead are buried in Fallujah...Socialist Worker - online...Saturday, February 19, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS 'new' 2-22-05 Iraqi Elections...by
Naomi Klein - Stop the War Coalition...The Guardian...Saturday, February 12, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS Civil
claims provide glimpse into war's impact on Iraqi citizens...Dayton
Daily News...Saturday, October 23, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Navy
coverup alleged on drug side effects ...United Press International...Published
Monday, September 8, 2003
....PAGE 4 NEWS Army misreads Green Beret's
disease....The Seattle Times...Sunday, November
23, 2003.
....PAGE 4 NEWS
Mad Cow Disease (BSE) and Vaccinations....by
Dawn Richardson.
....PAGE 4 NEWS Questioning Ethics of Abu Ghraib Doctors: the tip
of the iceberg...by Willow Marie Maze...Sept. 14, 2004.
....PAGE 4 NEWS DUTY, HONOR, BETRAYAL (series) by David Zeman...published by the Free Press...November 10, 11, 12, 2004.
How U.S. turned its back
on poisoned WWII vets: enlisted men...lab rats, Veterans kept secrets
and Servicemen got runaround.
....PAGE 4 NEWS Marine: US Soldiers Routinely Killed Civilians, Including
Women and Children...The Independent...September 12, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Should
Canada indict Bush? by Thomas Walkom...The Toronto Star...Tuesday,
November 16, 2004.
....PAGE 4 NEWS America
is going the way of Germany...Letter to the Editor by Jerzy
Bala Jr....Fargo Forum, Saturday, November 27, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS
War Crime...by Paul Craig Roberts...Creators Syndicate...published
Wednesday, December 8, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS You
asked for my evidence, Mr Ambassador. Here it is...By Naomi Klein..."The
Guardian"...December 4, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS How
Canada Can Help Force Bush Out of Iraq...by Naomi Klein...www.nologo.org...November 30 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Documents
show probes of other Iraq abuse cases...(Agencies)...CHINAdaily...Wednesday,
December 15, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Michael Portillo: An army that bullies its own is ready
to abuse prisoners...TIMESONLINE... January
23, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS New Papers
Suggest Detainee Abuse Was Widespread...by staff writers...Washington
Post...December 22, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Bush and Blair: Secrets and Lies...by Neil Mackay...Sunday Herald...Sunday,
September 19, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Richard W.
Bhan: 'A Republican businessman vilifies George Bush...posted...Monday,
October 18, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS The
war on Iraq has made moral coward of us all...by Scott Ritter..."The
Guardian"...November 1, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS US admits the war for 'hearts and minds' in Iraq is now
lost...by
Neil Mackay...Sunday Harald...December
5, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Ignoring Reality in Iraq...Texas
Straight Talk...by Congressman Ron Paul...Monday, December 13, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS BACK TO IRAQ...by Joshua Greene...Cleveland Free
Times...Wednesday, January 5, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS
Full English transcript of Usama bin Ladin's speech in a videotape
sent to Aljazeera....November 11, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Bush, Osama
and Israel Concealing Causes and Consequences...by William
A. Cook..."Counterpunch.org"...January 10,
2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS Is Al
Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?...by Robert Scheer...posted by POA...Friday,
January 14, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS Hyping
Terror For Fun, Profit - And Power...by Thom Hartmann...Reese.com...Tuesday,
December 28, 2004
....PAGE 4 NEWS Bush wants $80B more for wars; new deficit forecast released...USA
TODAY...Tuesday, January 25, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS Is the
world safer now?...an analysis...Belfast Telegraph...Friday, January 28, 2005
....PAGE 4 NEWS Secret
Patriot Act II to give Hitler’s Powers to Bush...By Alex Jones...Infowars.com,
December 8, 2004.
And THINK about: SOMETHING EVIL, THIS WAY COMES...by Rick
Stanley...An American Epic For The 21st Century.
....PAGE 4 NEWS
Death By Slow Burn - How America Nukes Its Own Troops...by
Amy Worthington...Sierra Times, March
5, 2002
....PAGE 4 NEWS INSIDE THE CID: CONFESSIONS OF A ROUGUE AGENT BY
SGT RICHARD EDWARDS*...MilitaryCorruption post
LARIAM LABEL UPDATE, ROCHE
USA, JULY 2002
Roche USA made important changes to the Lariam (mefloquine)
label (product information, PI) in July 2002. They made more changes
on October but did not change the date. This document reflects the
most current label, including the October 2002 updates. For your convenience,
Lariam Action USA has highlighted the differences between the current
label and those of the previous label (August 1999).
LARIAM® brand of (mefloquine hydrochloride) TABLETS
This product information is intended for United States
residents and on-screen viewing only. Before prescribing, please
refer to printed complete product information. Complete Product
Information
DESCRIPTION
CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
CONTRAINDICATIONS
WARNINGS
PRECAUTIONS
ADVERSE REACTIONS
OVERDOSAGE DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION
HOW SUPPLIED ANIMAL TOXICOLOGY
DESCRIPTION: Lariam (mefloquine hydrochloride) is an
antimalarial agent available as 250-mg tablets of mefloquine hydrochloride
(equivalent to 228.0 mg of the free base) for oral administration.
Mefloquine hydrochloride is a 4-quinolinemethanol derivative
with the specific chemical name of (R*, S*)-(±)-alpha-2-piperidinyl-2,8-bis
(trifluoromethyl)-4-quinolinemethanol hydrochloride. It is a 2-aryl
substituted chemical structural analog of quinine. The drug is a white
to almost white crystalline compound, slightly soluble in water.
Mefloquine hydrochloride has a calculated molecular weight
of 414.78 and the following structural formula: [molecular diagram]
The inactive ingredients are ammonium-calcium alginate,
corn starch, crospovidone, lactose, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline
cellulose, poloxamer #331, and talc.
CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY: Mefloquine is an antimalarial
agent which acts as a blood schizonticide. Its exact mechanism of
action is not known.
Pharmacokinetic studies of mefloquine in healthy male
subjects showed that a significant lag time occurred after drug administration,
and the terminal elimination half-life varied widely (13 to 24 days)
with a mean of about 3 weeks. Mefloquine is a mixture of enantiomeric
molecules whose rates of release, absorption, transport, action, degradation
and elimination may differ. A valid pharmacokinetic model may not exist
in such a case.
Additional studies in European subjects showed slightly
greater concentrations of drug for longer periods of time. The absorption
half-life was 0.36 to 2 hours, and the terminal elimination half-life
was 15 to 33 days. The primary metabolite was identified and its concentrations
were found to surpass the concentrations of mefloquine.
Multiple-dose kinetic studies confirmed the long elimination
half-lives previously observed. The mean metabolite to mefloquine
ratio measured at steady-state was found to range between 2.3 and 8.6.
The total clearance of the drug, which is essentially
all hepatic, is approximately 30 mL/min. The volume of distribution,
approximately 20 L/kg, indicates extensive distribution. The drug is
highly bound (98%) to plasma proteins and concentrated in blood erythrocytes,
the target cells in malaria, at a relatively constant erythrocyte-to-plasma
concentration ratio of about 2.
The pharmacokinetics of mefloquine in patients with compromised
renal function and compromised hepatic function have not been studied.
In vitro and in vivo studies showed no hemolysis associated
with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (see ANIMAL TOXICOLOGY).
Microbiology: Strains of Plasmodium falciparum resistant
to mefloquine have been reported.
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
Treatment of Acute Malaria Infections: Lariam is indicated
for the treatment of mild to moderate acute malaria caused by mefloquine-
susceptible strains of P. falciparum (both chloroquine-susceptible
and resistant strains) or by Plasmodium vivax. There are insufficient
clinical data to document the effect of mefloquine in malaria
caused by P. ovale or P. malariae.
Note: Patients with acute P. vivax malaria, treated with
Lariam, are at high risk of relapse because Lariam does not eliminate
exoerythrocytic (hepatic phase) parasites. To avoid relapse, after
initial treatment of the acute infection with Lariam, patients should
subsequently be treated with an 8-aminoquinoline (eg, primaquine).
Prevention of Malaria: Lariam is indicated for the prophylaxis
of P. falciparum and P. vivax malaria infections, including prophylaxis
of chloroquine-resistant strains of P. falciparum.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Use of Lariam is contraindicated in patients with a known
hypersensitivity to mefloquine or related compounds (eg, quinine
and quinidine). Lariam should not be prescribed for prophylaxis in
patients with active depression, a recent history of depression,
generalized anxiety disorder, psychosis, or schizophrenia or other major
psychiatric disorders, or with a history of convulsions.
WARNINGS
In case of life-threatening, serious or overwhelming
malaria infections due to P. falciparum, patients should be treated
with an intravenous antimalarial drug. Following completion of intravenous
treatment, Lariam may be given to complete the course of therapy.
Data on the use of halofantrine subsequent to administration
of Lariam suggests a significant, potentially fatal prolongation
of the QTc interval of the ECG. Therefore, halofantrine must not be
given simultaneously with or subsequent to Lariam. No data are available
on the use of Lariam after halofantrine (see PRECAUTIONS: Drug Interactions).
Mefloquine may cause psychiatric symptoms in a number
of patients, ranging from anxiety, paranoia and depression to hallucinations
and psychotic behavior. On occations, these symptoms have
been reported to continue long after mefloquine has been stopped.
Rare cases of suicidal ideation and suicide have been reported though
no relationship to drug administration has been confirmed. To
minimize the chances of these adverse events, mefloquine should not
be taken for prophylaxis in patients with active depression or with
a recent history of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, psychosis,
or schizophrenia or other major psychiatric disorders. Lariam
should be used with caution in patients with a previous history of depression.
During prophylactic use, if psychiatric symptoms such
as acute anxiety, depression, restlessness or confusion occur, these
may be considered prodromal to a more serious event. In these
cases, the drug must be discontinued and an alternative medication
should be substituted.
Concomitant administration of Lariam and quinine or quinidine
may produce electrocardiographic abnormalities.
Concomitant administration of Lariam and quinine or chloroquine
may increase the risk of convulsions.
PRECAUTIONS
General: In patients with epilepsy, Lariam may increase
the risk of convulsions. The drug should therefore be prescribed only
for curative treatment in such patients and only if there are compelling
medical reasons for its use (see PRECAUTIONS: Drug Interactions).
Caution should be exercised with regard to activities
requiring alertness and fine motor coordination such as driving,
piloting aircraft and operating machinery, as dizziness, a loss of
balance, or other disorders of the central or peripheral nervous system
have been reported during and following the use of Lariam. These effects
may occur after therapy is discontinued due to the long half-life of the
drug. <SNIP—language put into Warnings section> Lariam
should be used with caution in patients with psychiatric disturbances
because mefloquine use has been associated with emotional disturbances
(see ADVERSE REACTIONS).
In patients with impaired liver function the elimination
of mefloquine may be prolonged, leading to higher plasma levels.
This drug has been administered for longer than 1 year.
If the drug is to be administered for a prolonged period, periodic
evaluations including liver function tests should be performed. Although
retinal abnormalities seen in humans with long-term chloroquine use
have not been observed with mefloquine use, long-term feeding of
mefloquine to rats resulted in dose-related ocular lesions (retinal
degeneration, retinal edema and lenticular opacity at 12.5 mg/kg/day
and higher) (see ANIMAL TOXICOLOGY). Therefore, periodic ophthalmic
examinations are recommended.
Parenteral studies in animals show that mefloquine, a
myocardial depressant, possesses 20% of the antifibrillatory action
of quinidine and produces 50% of the increase in the PR interval reported
with quinine. The effect of mefloquine on the compromised cardiovascular
system has not been evaluated. However, transitory and clinically silent
ECG alterations have been reported during the use of mefloquine. Alterations
included sinus bradycardia, sinus arrhythmia, first degree AV-block,
prolongation of the QTc interval and abnormal T waves (see also cardiovascular
effects under PRECAUTIONS: Drug Interactions and ADVERSE REACTIONS).
The benefits of Lariam therapy should be weighed against the possibility
of adverse effects in patients with cardiac disease.
Laboratory Tests: Periodic evaluation of hepatic function
should be performed during prolonged prophylaxis.
Information for Patients:
Patients should be advised:
- that malaria can be a life-threatening infection in
the traveler;
- that if patients experience psychiatric symptoms
such as acute anxiety, depression, restlessness or confusion, these
may be considered prodromal to a more serious event. In these cases,
the drug must be discontinued and an alternative medication should be
substituted;
- that Lariam is being prescribed to help prevent or
treat this serious infection;
- that in a small percentage of cases, patients are unable
to take this medication because of side effects, and it may be necessary
to change medications;
- that when used as prophylaxis, the first dose of Lariam
should be taken one week prior to departure;
- that no chemoprophylactic regimen is 100% effective,
and protective clothing, insect repellents, and bednets are important
components of malaria prophylaxis;
- to seek medical attention for any febrile illness that
occurs after return from a malarious area and inform their physician
that they may have been exposed to malaria.
Drug Interactions: Drug-drug interactions with Lariam
have not been explored in detail. There is one report of cardiopulmonary
arrest, with full recovery, in a patient who was taking a beta blocker
(propranolol) (see PRECAUTIONS: General). The effects of mefloquine
on the compromised cardiovascular system have not been evaluated.
The benefits of Lariam therapy should be weighed against the possibility
of adverse effects in patients with cardiac disease.
Because of the danger of a potentially fatal prolongation
of the QTc interval, halofantrine should not be given simultaneously
with or subsequent to Lariam (see WARNINGS).
Concomitant administration of Lariam and other related
compounds (eg, quinine, quinidine and chloroquine) may produce electrocardiographic
abnormalities and increase the risk of convulsions (see WARNINGS).
If these drugs are to be used in the initial treatment of severe
malaria, Lariam administration should be delayed at least 12 hours
after the last dose. There is evidence that the use of halofantrine
after mefloquine causes a significant lengthening of the QTc interval.
Clinically significant QTc prolongation has not been found with mefloquine
alone.
This appears to be the only clinically relevant interaction
of this kind with Lariam, although theoretically, coadministration
of other drugs known to alter cardiac conduction (eg, anti-arrhythmic
or beta-adrenergic blocking agents, calcium channel blockers, antihistamines
or H1-blocking agents, tricyclic antidepressants and phenothiazines)
might also contribute to a prolongation of the QTc interval. There
are no data that conclusively establish whether the concomitant administration
of mefloquine and the above listed agents has an effect on cardiac function.
In patients taking an anticonvulsant (eg, valproic acid,
carbamazepine, phenobarbital or phenytoin), the concomitant use
of Lariam may reduce seizure control by lowering the plasma levels
of the anticonvulsant. Therefore, patients concurrently taking antiseizure
medication and Lariam should have the blood level of their antiseizure
medication monitored and the dosage adjusted appropriately (see PRECAUTIONS:
General).
When Lariam is taken concurrently with oral live typhoid
vaccines, attenuation of immunization cannot be excluded. Vaccinations
with attenuated live bacteria should therefore be completed at least
3 days before the first dose of Lariam.
No other drug interactions are known. Nevertheless, the
effects of Lariam on travelers receiving comedication, particularly
those on anticoagulants or antidiabetics, should be checked before
departure.
In clinical trials, the concomitant administration of
sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine did not alter the adverse reaction
profile.
Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility:
Carcinogenesis: The carcinogenic potential of mefloquine
was studied in rats and mice in
2-year feeding studies at doses of up to 30 mg/kg/day.
No treatment-related increases in tumors of any type were noted.
Mutagenesis: The mutagenic potential of mefloquine was
studied in a variety of assay systems including: Ames test, a host-mediated
assay in mice, fluctuation tests and a mouse micronucleus assay.
Several of these assays were performed with and without prior metabolic
activation. In no instance was evidence obtained for the mutagenicity
of mefloquine.
Impairment of Fertility: Fertility studies in rats at
doses of 5, 20, and 50 mg/kg/day of mefloquine have demonstrated adverse
effects on fertility in the male at the high dose of 50 mg/kg/day,
and in the female at doses of 20 and 50 mg/kg/day. Histopathological
lesions were noted in the epididymides from male rats at doses of
20 and 50 mg/kg/day. Administration of 250 mg/week of mefloquine (base)
in adult males for 22 weeks failed to reveal any deleterious effects
on human spermatozoa.
Pregnancy: Teratogenic Effects. Pregnancy Category C.
Mefloquine has been demonstrated to be teratogenic in rats and mice
at a dose of 100 mg/kg/day. In rabbits, a high dose of 160 mg/kg/day
was embryotoxic and teratogenic, and a dose of 80 mg/kg/day was teratogenic
but not embryotoxic. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies
in pregnant women. However, clinical experience with Lariam has not
revealed an embryotoxic or teratogenic effect. Mefloquine should be
used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential
risk to the fetus. Women of childbearing potential who are traveling to
areas where malaria is endemic should be warned against becoming pregnant.
Women of childbearing potential should also be advised to practice contraception
during malaria prophylaxis with Lariam.
Nursing Mothers: Mefloquine is excreted in human milk.
Based on a study in a few subjects, low concentrations (3% to 4%)
of mefloquine were excreted in human milk following a dose equivalent
to 250 mg of the free base. Because of the potential for serious adverse
reactions in nursing infants from mefloquine, a decision should be
made whether to discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance
of the drug to the mother.
Pediatric Use: Use of Lariam to treat acute, uncomplicated
P. falciparum malaria in pediatric patients is supported by evidence
from adequate and well-controlled studies of Lariam in adults with
additional data from published open-label and comparative trials using
Lariam to treat malaria caused by P. falciparum in patients younger than
16 years of age. The safety and effectiveness of Lariam for the treatment
of malaria in pediatric patients below the age of 6 months have not
been established.
In several studies, the administration of Lariam for
the treatment of malaria was associated with early vomiting in pediatric
patients. Early vomiting was cited in some reports as a possible cause
of treatment failure. If a second dose is not tolerated, the patient
should be monitored closely and alternative malaria treatment considered
if improvement is not observed within a reasonable period of time (see
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION).
ADVERSE REACTIONS
Clinical: At the doses used for treatment of acute malaria
infections, the symptoms possibly attributable to drug cannot be
distinguished from those symptoms usually attributable to the disease
itself.
Among subjects who received mefloquine for prophylaxis
of malaria, the most frequently observed adverse experience was
vomiting (3%). Dizziness, syncope, extrasystoles and other complaints
affecting less than 1% were also reported.
Among subjects who received mefloquine for treatment,
the most frequently observed adverse experiences included: dizziness,
myalgia, nausea, fever, headache, vomiting,
chills, diarrhea, skin rash, abdominal pain, fatigue,
loss of appetite, and tinnitus. Those side effects occurring
in less than 1% included bradycardia, hair loss, emotional problems,
pruritus, asthenia, transient emotional disturbances
and telogen effluvium (loss of resting hair). Seizures
have also been reported.
Two serious adverse reactions were cardiopulmonary arrest
in one patient shortly after ingesting a single prophylactic dose
of mefloquine while concomitantly using propranolol (see PRECAUTIONS),
and encephalopathy of unknown etiology during prophylactic mefloquine
administration. The relationship of encephalopathy to drug administration
could not be clearly established.
Postmarketing: Postmarketing surveillance indicates that
the same kind of adverse experiences are reported
during prophylaxis, as well as acute treatment.
The most frequently reported adverse events are
nausea, vomiting, loose stools or diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness
or vertigo, loss of balance, and neuropsychiatric events such as headache
somnolence, and sleep disorders (insomnia, abnormal dreams)
These are usually mild and may decrease despite continued use.
Occasionally, more severe neuropsychiatric disorders
have been reported such as: sensory and motor neuropathies (including
paresthesia, tremor and ataxia), convulsions, agitation or restlessness,
anxiety, depression, mood changes, panic attacks, forgetfulness,
confusion, hallucinations, aggression, psychotic or paranoid reactions
and encephalopathy. Rare cases of suicidal ideation and suicide have
been reported though no relationship to drug administration has been
confirmed.
Other infrequent adverse events include:
Cardiovascular Disorders: circulatory disturbances
(hypotension, hypertension, flushing, syncope), chest pain,
tachycardia or palpitation, bradycardia, irregular pulse, extrasystoles,
A-V block, and other transient cardiac conduction alterations.
Skin Disorders: rash, exanthema, erythema,
urticaria, pruritus, hair loss, erythema multiforme, and Stevens-Johnson
Syndrome.
Musculoskeletal Disorders: muscle weakness,
muscle cramps, myalgia, and arthralgia.
OTHER symptoms: visual disturbances,
vestibular disorders including tinnitus and hearing impairment,
dyspnea, asthenia, malaise, fatigue, fever
sweating, chills, dyspepsia and loss
of appetite.
Laboratory: The most frequently observed laboratory alterations
which could be possibly attributable to drug administration were
decreased hematocrit, transient elevation of transaminases, leukopenia
and thrombocytopenia. These alterations were observed in patients with
acute malaria who received treatment doses of the drug and were attributed
to the disease itself.
During prophylactic administration of mefloquine to indigenous
populations in malaria-endemic areas, the following occasional
alterations in laboratory values were observed: transient elevation
of transaminases, leukocytosis or thrombocytopenia.
Because of the long half-life of mefloquine, adverse
reactions to Lariam may occur or persist up to several weeks after
the last dose.
OVERDOSAGE: In cases of overdosage with Lariam, the symptoms
mentioned under ADVERSE REACTIONS may be more pronounced. The following
procedure is recommended in case of overdosage: Induce vomiting
or perform gastric lavage, as appropriate. Monitor cardiac function
(if possible by ECG) and neurologic and psychiatric status for
at least
24 hours. Provide symptomatic and intensive supportive
treatment as required, particularly for cardiovascular disturbances.
Treat vomiting or diarrhea with standard fluid therapy.
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION (see INDICATIONS AND USAGE):
<NO CHANGES>
Manufactured by F. HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE LTD Basel, Switzerland
Distributed by Roche Laboratories Inc., 340 Kingsland
Street, Nutley, New Jersey
07110-1199
Revised: JULY 2002 Printed in USA
Copyright © 1999-2002 by Roche Laboratories Inc.
All rights reserved.
THINK
Back to ALERTS
Navy coverup
alleged on drug side effects
By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted
United Press International
Published 9/8/2003 7:05 AM
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A Naval Reserve commander
who volunteered for the Iraq war says the military doctored his
medical file to eliminate all traces of an anti-malaria drug that
he believes made him severely ill, suicidal and aggressive - and
that he has the before-and-after evidence to prove it.
"I was given Lariam. I got sick from Lariam," said Cmdr.
William Manofsky, 44, who is based at the Naval Air Warfare Center
in China Lake, Calif. "The Navy does not want to talk about Lariam.
There is no mention of it in my medical record. I'm pretty upset."
Manofsky said there is no indication in his file of ever
being prescribed the drug, although the Navy handed it to him last
November; that a page is missing on which "Took Lariam" was written;
and that a reference to the drug during an emergency clinic visit on
May 13 has mysteriously vanished from the page - even though he has
a copy that clearly shows it written there.
Manofsky and his wife, Tori, believe the military is covering
up problems with the drug - the Navy's main concern so far, they
said, is to try to get the medical records back. A spokesman for the
Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery would only say that it provides
quality care and is working "to resolve the issue."
"The military created the drug," Tori Manofsky said (it
was developed by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and
licensed to Roche). "There is a lot of money involved in the drug.
I think there are a lot of careers at stake. Anything that shows a
problem with Lariam has to be hidden or covered up somehow by the military.
If all these people came back and it was clearly Lariam, there would
be lawsuits up the kazoo."
Lariam is the drug that at least two of the soldiers who
killed their wives at Fort Bragg last summer took while serving in
Afghanistan. Both those soldiers - and a third who apparently had taken
the drug - subsequently killed themselves. The drug's label warns of
psychosis, aggression, hallucinations and reports of suicide that can
occur "long after" someone stops taking it. The Food and Drug Administration
this year ordered that everyone prescribed the drug be handed a written
statement listing those dangers and warning them to quit taking it if
they experience mental problems.
The government and the company that makes Lariam, Swiss
drug giant Hoffmann-La Roche, say the drug is safe and effective.
The FDA says it doesn't know whether the drug can trigger suicide.
Roche says there is no reliable evidence it can trigger violent behavior.
The Pentagon says side effects are generally rare and mild and are
outweighed by the risk of getting malaria.
Manofsky, who never took Lariam before being deployed
to Kuwait last December, became suicidal after returning to California
this spring and nearly slugged his wife in a bizarre rage about the
way she cast her fishing line. He also suffered seizures, balance problems
so severe he sometimes could not stand, panic attacks and depression.
Tori Manofsky became convinced Lariam was the culprit
after researching on the Web the medications her husband was taking.
On June 26, after several visits to the China Lake clinic in which
they raised the Lariam issue but felt they were being ignored, Bill
Manofsky went to the clinic to pick up his records on his way to see
a neurologist. He flipped through them to make sure Lariam was documented.
"The first thing I noticed was a sheet missing," he said.
"Both Tori and I had seen the sheet. Someone had written on an angle,
'Took Lariam' and it was no longer there. There was no entry for
being issued Lariam."
Manofsky flipped more pages, looking for the record of
a May 13 visit to the clinic. That day, his wife had insisted a Navy
doctor write the drug on that record and both had watched him do it.
He found the page on which he felt certain that note had been written.
Nothing.
Manofsky knew his memory was shot, that he was acting
strangely, and there was no reason for anyone to believe him. But
he had a backup. Tori Manofsky - suspicious that Navy doctors were
ignoring the drug - secretly photocopied the page after the doctor
wrote down "Lariam" on the May 13 visit and briefly left the room.
Tori's copy clearly shows the reference, "Lariam for anti
malaria" Underneath that, four other medicines Manofsky was taking
also are gone; they are mentioned elsewhere on the visit.
Two independent document examiners consulted by UPI concluded
that unless the Manofskys themselves faked the doctor's writing
and created bogus copies, only the Navy can explain the omission.
The document experts could find no evidence that writing
had been erased from the May 13 record. One of the experts - a former
head of an FBI questioned documents office - told UPI that the likeliest
scenario is that the clinic made a copy of the May 13 page while the
Manofskys were still there, and the doctor wrote "Lariam" on that copy
after Tori insisted. That sheet never made it into his medical file.
While such a chain of events could theoretically be accidental,
Tori Manofsky believes the Navy knows it has a problem with the
drug, and was keeping two sets of records and recording Lariam problems
on only one.
UPI contacted the doctor who saw Manofsky on the May 13
visit and asked if he knew anything about changes in the medical
record. He declined to comment and said he had been told to refer questions
to Twentynine Palms Marine base, which forwarded them to the Navy Bureau
of Medicine and Surgery in Washington. Spokesman Brian Badura issued
this statement:
"Successful medical treatment relies on accurate information,
close cooperation and communication between provider and patient,
and follow-up by all parties involved. Navy Medicine makes a concentrated
effort to meet the needs of each patient. Due to the number of circumstances
surrounding the Manofsky case and the ongoing efforts by Navy Medicine
to resolve this issue, we cannot offer additional input at this time."
Several other service members who served in Iraq have
told UPI they had serious problems with the drug - including one
who says he was afraid of harming his wife and that there was no record
of him being prescribed Lariam, either. At least two soldiers were
medically evacuated from Iraq with suspected Lariam problems, one an
Army officer in charge of 300 soldiers, the other a soldier who felt
the way he was treated suggested the Army was "avoiding the Lariam diagnosis."
The Army is now discharging him.
The Washington Post reported in July that the military
is investigating at least seven suicides among troops in Iraq, among
a larger number of deaths classified as "non-combat weapons discharge"
or "non-combat related."
The Pentagon hasn't identified any deaths as suicides
since the war started.
Earlier this year, two more soldiers deployed out of Fort
Bragg who took Lariam in Afghanistan committed suicide after returning
home - bringing the number of suicides after that war to at least
five. In one case, the soldier's father said he asked Fort Bragg officials
if the Lariam given to his son could have played a role. "They have no
comment," he told UPI.
The Pentagon insists that there have been few problems
with the drug, prescribed to soldiers around the world to prevent
malaria. More 25 million people have taken it worldwide, according
to the manufacturer, 5 million of them in the U.S.
Assistant Secretary of Defense Dr. William Winkenwerder,
Jr., wrote a U.S. congressman last fall that any possible side effects
are "greatly outweighed by the drug's effectiveness in preventing
the severe consequences of malaria infections" among troops.
In the Fort Bragg homicide-suicides, a team of experts
dispatched by the Army Surgeon General's office concluded that Lariam
was an "unlikely" explanation for the entire cluster of deaths but
acknowledged it had not investigated it in any single case. It blamed
the deaths on marital problems.
At the time, critics said some of the Fort Bragg deaths
should have been investigated as possibly drug related, especially
because there was no history of domestic abuse and all three of the
soldiers who had been in Afghanistan killed themselves - both unusual
in domestic homicide cases.
A former Roche employee said that Lariam, known generically
as mefloquine, is a member of the quinolone family of drugs that
can produce severe psychiatric problems in some users.
"Any drug with a quinolone base to it, which includes
Lariam, is likely to do this," said Dr. Donald H. Marks, former associate
director of clinical research at Roche who now consults with attorneys
suing drug manufacturers. "These types of drugs can induce a temporary
homicidal or suicidal rage."
The Army puts the rate of severe side effects at 1 in
13,000. A widely reported British study completed in 1996 found
that one person in 140 had such serious problems that they temporarily
couldn't carry out the function for which they were traveling.
The Manofskys said they were willing to take on the Navy
publicly because they are convinced the truth is not being told, and
concerned that other soldiers returning from deployments overseas are
getting the same treatment.
They showed UPI Bill Manofsky's complete medical file
and Navy service record; e-mails from the Navy psychiatrist who
treated him before he decided not to work with the Navy any more; a
log Tori kept of Bill's symptoms, and all the medicines he was taking
including remaining Lariam pills. They gave interviews in California
and Washington in which they went over the events almost minute by minute.
The Manofskys outlined this sequence of events.
A 17-year veteran of the Naval Reserve, Manofsky was handed
Lariam last November at China Lake before being deployed. There was
no prescription written or warning given of possible side effects,
and Tori Manofsky said she has since been told by a base medical worker
that there were "special instructions for dispensing and documenting"
the drug.
Bill Manofsky served active duty at an air base in Kuwait
during the war, using his top-secret clearance on a targeting system.
But he suffered what he now says were bad Lariam side effects that
started in Kuwait and got worse when he got home and kept taking his
pills as directed. He's had uncontrollable vomiting and vertigo, depression
and anxiety attacks requiring hospitalization. His hands tremble. He
stutters and repeats himself. He has frightening seizures.
After 11 years of marriage, Tori said that after taking
Lariam, Bill's personality changed drastically from the gentle husband
she knew.
The drug is taken weekly while deployed and for four more
weeks after a person returns, so Manofsky was still taking the pills
when he got back.
Tori kept a journal documenting her husband's problems.
An entry for May 2 described his symptoms as "balance off, angry,
moody, coping poorly, sad, depressed. What really bothers me is
'aggressive - highly aggressive.'"
The couple tried to go fishing in early May in an effort
to relax. But Bill got so angry he scared his wife. When she cast
her line in the water, "Bill came over and said, 'Do it this way,'" she
wrote in the journal documenting his problems. "He kept saying it over
and over - extremely angry!!!"
After she told him she was upset and wanted to stop fishing,
"he leaned over me like he was going to slug me in the head and said,
'If you don't do it this way I'm going to ...'" He stopped in the middle
of the sentence and backed off. She said that a few hours later he had
no memory of the incident.
Bill Manofsky told UPI later that, "I was trying not to
pull a Fort Bragg."
"I wanted to make sure Bill had the proper care with Lariam
toxicity," Tori said, describing the May 13 visit to the China Lake
clinic. The symptoms I read on the Internet matched up with Bill's
to a tee. I told the doctor that I thought that Lariam was responsible
for his symptoms. I said, 'Doctor, would you write Lariam down.'"
"He wrote everything down and put the clipboard on the
bed near Bill's legs. I leaned over and I said, 'Bill, I need to copy
this.' They had a copy machine down the hall. I went down and copied it
and did not say anything to anybody about it."
Later in May, Manofsky became suicidal. On May 31, Tori
said that while she was driving them to a restaurant, "Bill's panic,
anxiety and distress became so acute that he proceeded to try and
claw his way out of the truck so he could jump out. I kept telling
him, 'Bill, it's gonna be OK, it's gonna be OK.' He said he was crawling
out of skin, he had to get out of there."
At the restaurant, "Bill went to the bathroom and began
vomiting, he then sat on the floor and said repeatedly that he was
going to blow his brains out.
The Manofskys say that Bill was referred to a Navy psychiatrist
who also seemed to resist the idea that a drug prescribed by the
Navy could be causing his problems. She diagnosed him with anxiety
and "narcissistic" and "histrionic" personality traits.
Then, on June 26, Bill Manofsky discovered the changes
in his medical record.
Copyright © 2001-2003 United Press International
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes.)
Civil claims provide glimpse
into war's impact on Iraqi citizens
By Russell Carollo, Larry Kaplow, Mike Wagner and Ken
McCall
Dayton Daily News
Saturday, October 23, 2004
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Tahsin Ali Hussein al-Ruba'i knew
that danger waited in the darkened streets, where American soldiers
suspicious of every approaching vehicle lurked near poorly marked
checkpoints.
The 32-year-old knew the danger because he made his living
earning $3 to $4 a day driving his orange-and-white 1983 Volkswagen
Passat in the streets of Baghdad. But on July 1, 2003, his infant
daughter, Tabarek, had the flu, and he decided to risk driving to
his in-laws so he could pick her up and take her to a hospital.
As his taxi neared the working-class Cairo Street neighborhood,
American soldiers spread several Humvees across an eight-lane boulevard,
preparing to stop oncoming vehicles. Fearing someone would be shot
because the makeshift checkpoint had no signs, cones or lights, a man
selling kabobs along the road 50 yards away started waving and yelling
at unsuspecting motorists.
Al-Ruba'i apparently never got the warning.
Soldiers opened fire with rifles and mounted machine guns,
riddling his taxi with bullet holes and killing him, witnesses said.
"They (the soldiers) were the reason for what happened.
They didn't point to him and tell him to stop," said the kabob vendor,
Taha Mehdi al-Jabouri. "They treat us in a savage way."
The family filed a civil claim asking for $2,500 from the
American military, but the claim was denied.
The case is among 4,611 never-before-released civil claims
from Iraq — hundreds alleging abuse and misconduct by American military
personnel — on a computer database obtained by the Dayton Daily News
through the federal Freedom of Information Act. The U.S. Army tort
claims database is the most comprehensive public record released to
date of alleged acts against Iraqi civilians by American forces, which
do not otherwise systematically track civilian casualties.
The records provide a previously unseen portrait of the
toll the war has had on civilians in Iraq, and the kinds of incidents
described in the records have fueled the growing insurgency and hatred
toward the American-led coalition.
About 78 percent of the claims are for incidents that occurred
after President Bush declared major combat operations over on May
2, 2003.
"When we first got there, the Iraqis were glad to see us.
I believe things changed because there was disrespect to the people,"
said Elizabeth Wisdorf of Colorado Springs, Colo., who served for
nearly a year in Iraq as a member of the Colorado National Guard's 220th
Military Police Company. "There were a lot of accidents, a lot of deaths."
At least 16 death claims specifically identify 20 children
as victims, most from bombings or shootings, and another 193 claims
allege 171 sons or daughters were killed without providing an age.
Incidents such as these have turned many Iraqis, such as
the family of Samir Shleman Chaman, against the American occupation.
Chaman, a house painter, was killed when a tank crushed his car as
he was returning from a painting job — one of at least 150 Iraqis
allegedly killed or injured in encounters with military vehicles.
"Our point of view toward the Americans has changed. You
can feel the fury inside you," said Amir Shleman, Chaman's brother.
"If they treated people like human beings, no one would take up weapons
against them."
Like other Iraqis, Shleman's grieving family became more
outraged at how the military handled their claim for compensation.
Chaman was a husband and father of a 7-year-old boy and
a 13-year-old girl. The day after he was killed, the family said,
soldiers left $2,000 near the pillow of his widow — money the family
was told was for funeral expenses.
When they filed a claim through an Iraqi attorney for compensation
for the children, they encountered months of delays and confusion
before finally receiving a letter on Sept. 7, 2004.
"The evidence does not prove that the death of your husband
or damages to your vehicle were due to the negligent or wrongful acts
of the United States Armed Forces," the letter reads.
The claim was denied.
"I think it is despicable how we are treating the innocent
people or their families after there is a tragedy," said Ivan Medina
of Middletown, N.Y., who served as an assistant chaplain for the
Army's 10th engineer battalion in Iraq. "We do nothing for them after
these terrible things happen. These are innocent people, not soldiers
fighting a battle."
Army Lt. Col. Charlotte Herring said the Army, which handles
civil claims for all three services in Iraq, has given out $8.2
million since June 2003 and budgeted $10 million in fiscal year
2005 to help the Iraqi people deal with losses suffered because
of the war. Considering the dangerous conditions in Iraq, she said,
the system is "working famously." She blamed some of the problems on
the realities of war and predicted improvements as hostilities subside.
Through the claims system, "the local commander can try
to keep good will and come and amend a somewhat tragic situation,"
said Marine Reserve Capt. Sean Dunn, who worked as a platoon commander
and supervised claims payments in Iraq. "You're also trying to keep
the neighborhood from going nuts and attacking other people."
Proving whether the claims were valid, he said, often was
a difficult and time-consuming job.
"There were blatantly fraudulent claims," he said. "As
soon as they realized there was money being paid, they were beating
down the door wanting money for all kinds of crazy things with no evidence
whatsoever."
Soldiers who served in Iraq said innocent civilians sometimes
become victims because soldiers are forced to react to situations
without knowing whether they will encounter a roadside bomb, an attacker
dressed like a civilian or a motorist who steers into a convoy or absent-mindedly
runs through a checkpoint.
Spc. Charles Bradford, 29, who went to elementary school
in Dayton while his father was in the Air Force, earned a Purple
Heart for a shrapnel wound and survived two roadside bombs and eight
rocket-propelled grenade attacks. He is regularly hit with stones
when he rides the "gunning" position through the hatch of his Humvee.
But he said he has fired his rifle only once since coming to Iraq in
March.
"I give these people a chance regardless of the stuff I've
been through," he said. "Every day I go out of the (base), I pray
I don't have to kill anyone."
Spc. Grant Horn, 23, of Quakertown, Penn., was recently
about 50 feet from a car bomb explosion that left him shaken and with
cuts on his face. He has not fired at anyone, he said, but he knows
that with the city's dangerous streets comes the possibility of wounding
a civilian.
"You don't want to do it, but if it happened I would be
glad I was alive," he said. "It's better to be safe than sorry."
Retired Air Force Col. Sam Gardiner, a Department of Defense
consultant who once headed the strategy department at the National
War College, said the fear, hatred and corresponding acts of violence
are byproducts of lengthy occupations.
"It feeds on itself because people are angry," said Gardiner,
who was assigned to strategy and prisoner of war recovery from Thailand
during the Vietnam War. "It frightens soldiers more. They feel less
secure. They react more strongly, which creates more anger, which causes
people to be more afraid, which (makes soldiers) pull the trigger faster.
"Once you start down this slippery slope, I don't know
that anybody knows how to stop it."
'Legitimate targets'
Claims in the Army database seek compensation for at least
437 Iraqi deaths and 468 injuries.
However, the actual number of casualties is unknown. The
database recorded only a portion of the total deaths and injuries
because not all alleged acts by American personnel resulted in claims.
In addition, difficult conditions in parts of Iraq prevented up to
70 percent of the claims committees there from accessing the database,
Herring said. She estimated that the Army has received as many as 18,000
claims in the last year alone.
Victims and their families filed claims for homes destroyed
in bombings, confiscated property, and injuries and deaths from shootings
and bombings, according to the database. In 29 cases, Iraqis claimed
the military left so-called "unexploded ordnance" that later detonated,
killing 14 and injuring 25 innocent people.
The victims in at least six Iraqi claims were allegedly
hit by warning shots that went awry.
In an April 8, 2004, incident in Balad Ruz, a soldier fired
a .50-caliber machine gun into the air to disperse a crowd of about
100 civilian demonstrators, according to an Army account of the incident.
The soldier ducked to avoid being hit by rocks being thrown by the
crowd, and the gun accidentally discharged twice, killing an 11-year-old
boy named Mustafa Nadig, the account says.
"The U.S. soldier who shot the 11-year-old boy was seen
by (a military officer) with his hands up in the air giving the three-fingered
`hang loose/surfs up' sign as the soldier was driving away," the Army
records say.
"It appears probable that U.S. forces facilitated the death
of a civilian boy," the records say, adding that a $2,500 payment
to the family was approved by a general.
In two other warning-shot cases, the victims were described
as deaf.
Victims in at least two other cases were identified as
bus passengers, one whose arm was amputated after a Marine allegedly
fired "a warning shot" into the bus. The other, described in Army
records as an "innocent passenger," was killed after a soldier from
the 194th Military Police Company fired into a bus.
The victim in a sixth claim was identified as a 13-year-old
boy hit by a "ricochet bullet fired as a warning shot" that entered
his thigh and fractured his femur. Army records say that the boy required
a year to recover and that there were "some minor residual issues such
as a slightly shorter leg."
In a separate case, Army records show, a soldier from the
220th Military Police Brigade fired at the tires of a driver who was
fleeing soldiers in Scania, "accidentally shooting the deceased in
the chest, killing him," according to Army records.
The soldier in that case was never prosecuted, an Army
spokesman said.
Under Section 2 of Coalition Provisional Authority Order
Number 17, which will remain in effect until the "last coalition
element leaves Iraq," coalition forces are immune from civil lawsuits
and criminal charges. The immunity leaves Iraqis with a single option:
filing for compensation under the Foreign Claims Act with the United
States Armed Services, the same entity they are accusing of wrongdoing.
Other countries do not grant such immunity to American
soldiers.
After Spc. Christopher McCarthy was convicted of killing
bar hostess Kim Sung-hi in Korea in 2000, the victim's family not
only got a $154,000 payment from the Army, but also received a civil
judgment from the South Korean court.
"We just rounded up what we could and sent it (the money)
over there," McCarthy's mother, Susan McCarthy, recalled.
More than 1,000 claims involved vehicle accidents — by
far the largest category of claims recorded in the database. At
least 160 of those involved tanks or Bradley Fighting Vehicles, resulting
in at least seven deaths and 16 injuries.
More than 400 claims involved destruction of crops, trees,
livestock or water sources — property essential to the survival of
Iraqi citizens.
A Daily News analysis of the roughly 4,600 claims in Iraq
shows just one in four resulted in some type of payment. Of the 51,018
Army claims filed in other countries during that same period, one
in two resulted in a payment.
Lt. Col. Herring, the chief of the U.S. Army's Foreign
Torts Branch, said the database is incomplete. In fiscal year 2004
the Army paid 11,000 claims and denied 3,000, she said. Prior to
this past June, however, the Army did not track how many claims were
denied.
According to the database, the average payment for a death
in Iraq was $3,421, less than 1/20th of the average payment for a
claim filed anywhere else.
On May 12, 2003, an Iraqi man died when a tire fell from
a U.S. Army vehicle in Tikrit, and his widow received $5,000, according
to Army records. On April 24, 1999, in Bath County, Ky., a female motorist
suffered neck and back injuries after a tire fell from a military vehicle,
and she got $50,000, or 10 times what the Iraq widow received for losing
her husband under nearly identical circumstances.
The Army paid $5,000 — the same amount given the Iraq widow
— to a woman who got a staple stuck in her finger at Fort Buchanan,
Puerto Rico.
In addition to the formal claims system in Iraq, Iraqis
were sometimes given $2,500 in so-called solatia or sympathy payments
without any paperwork at all, said attorney Jack Bournazian, who
held seminars to show Iraqi attorneys how to file civil claims.
The payments, military officials said, were frequently
given out as a way of defusing animosity toward American forces and
improving relations in a community.
Attorneys and representatives of human rights groups said
the process used in Iraq to settle civil claims is subjective, left
to the whim of individual commanders or claims officers who often make
their decisions based on little investigation.
"People were told if you want to settle on the spot, we'll
give you a certain amount of money," said Gael Murphy, a board member
of Occupation Watch, which collected information on incidents involving
Iraqi civilians. "Otherwise, your claim has to go to Washington."
The military does not pay claims for incidents deemed to
be caused by "combat operations," which could include checkpoint shootings
and other incidents involving innocent civilians.
The military originally told the family of Mazen Nouradin,
a husband and father of two young daughters, that he was shot while
riding in a car with people firing on coalition forces.
Nouradin, a 36-year-old pharmaceutical salesman and veterinarian
who had worked as a translator for U.S. forces, was shot dead June
28, 2003, as he waited for a ride to work in front of his home in
a middle-class section of Baghdad, according to the family and records
filed by an American attorney.
His father said he came out of the house immediately after
hearing gunshots and found his son's body on the sidewalk.
"I saw the American soldiers standing around him," he said.
"I got sick and started to throw up."
Witnesses said Nouradin was shot after the occupants in
two cars began firing at a convoy of U.S. soldiers, who returned fire.
In later correspondence, the military, which eventually
paid the family $2,500, dropped the allegation that Nouradin was in
a car with gunmen, saying only that he was "killed during an exchange
of gunfire between Iraqi civilians and members of the coalition forces."
The military, however, still refused to pay additional
damages, insisting the death was the result of "combat activities"
and not subject to compensation.
In response to a man who claimed that his two brothers
were killed and his parents injured on March 29, 2003, when coalition
forces bombed the Al Tajiya area of Babel city, the military wrote:
"Coalition forces dropped ordnance during Operation Iraqi Freedom
on legitimate targets. Your family was in an area that was being legitimately
targeted and therefore regrettably harmed."
'Cannot put a price on it'
Like thousands of other civil claims, the description provided
for claim number 04I1AT189 gives no indication of the impact to
the victims or to the U.S.-led coalition's effort to win the hearts
and minds of the Iraqi people.
The only description of the incident leading to Claim 04I1AT189,
which asks for $25,000, reads: "U.S. forces confiscated a knife
and Iraqi government dump truck," a seemingly routine description
of a routine claim — one of hundreds claiming property was seized or
damaged.
The incident began with a noon raid on May 18, 2003, at
the home of Najedh Abdel Sadeh al-Fatlawi, a 60-year-old retired hospital
administrator and father of five sons and two daughters.
"They put the women in the front room," he recalled during
an interview at his home, adding that they put plastic handcuffs
on him and four of his sons.
The soldiers refused his offer for keys to other rooms
and cabinets, he said, and instead broke interior doors and closets.
In one cabinet, he said, they found an antique Arab dagger
more than 100 years old with a handle of dark gray "very precious
stone." The dagger had belonged to al-Fatlawi's grandfather, who gave
it to his father, who eventually gave it to al-Fatlawi, he said.
"When I was a child, it was always in our house," he said.
"You cannot put a price on it."
A soldier put the dagger in a plastic bag and carried it
away without providing a receipt, al-Fatlawi said. Along with the
dagger, he said, soldiers seized two rifles and a licensed pistol,
a government truck and about $172 in cash.
After the last of his four sons was released three weeks
later, al-Fatawi said, he tried to file a complaint at the convention
center in the heavily guarded Green Zone of Baghdad, which houses
the headquarters for the American-led coalition. He said he was told
to go to an Army base on the southern edge of the city, and later sent
somewhere else.
"After one year, they had lost all my files," he said.
Losing files is not uncommon in Iraq. Records from an Aug.
21, 2003, claim involving an automobile accident that killed one
man and severely injured six others says that a military officer
conducted an investigation but that the officer "lost the investigation."
Iraqi attorney Mohammed al-Saadi said one base lost 60
claims files when offices were moved, and the Army asked all the
families to resubmit the claims.
A July 1, 2004, letter al-Fatlawi has from Chief Warrant
Officer Anton Streeter of the Foreign Claims Commission says, "Allow
me to express my sympathy for the confiscation of your personal property."
The letter offered $1,000.
"I thought they would change people again and lose my file
again, so I took the $1,000," said al-Fatlawi, adding he never saw
the dagger again.
Two of his sons — one in high school and the other in college
— failed their exams, in part because of the stress suffered from
the raid and its aftermath, al-Fatlawi said, adding that he has suffered
from hypertension since the raid. His son, who was responsible for watching
the government-owned truck, might have to pay for it, he said.
"In the beginning, we thought they were liberators for
the Iraqi people, and we were happy," al-Fatlawi said. "We thought
there would be justice in Iraq after 35 years of injustice.
"Now there is no justice. Nothing has changed except for
the faces."
Checkpoints: Clash of cultures
If there is a place that most exemplifies the problems
plaguing the American-led occupation, it is the traffic-control checkpoints.
Often little more than a group of Humvees in the middle of a road, checkpoints
are used to secure an area or conduct spot searches of cars.
In 114 claims, the incident was described as happening
at a checkpoint. The claims allege 39 shootings that left 12 dead
and 28 injured.
Human rights groups say checkpoints are safer since early
in the war, but problems persist.
Between Nov. 12, 2003, and Jan. 1, 2004, five people were
shot at checkpoints in Mosul — three of them during an 11-day period.
Another claim in Mosul, occurring during the same period, alleges someone
was "shot in the leg while driving by U.S. forces."
Medina, the former assistant Army chaplain in Iraq, said
many checkpoints were poorly marked and manned by soldiers who didn't
understand the culture or have translators who could help them communicate
with Iraqi citizens.
"Our soldiers would put their hands up as a sign to stop
at the (checkpoints), but we didn't do our homework on how to deal
with the Iraqi people," he said. "To them, putting your hand up was
a gesture or greeting, so they would just keep approaching the soldiers
in their cars.
"And a lot of soldiers would just open fire, and they killed
a lot of innocent people. We just didn't do enough to study the culture
of Iraqis."
Medina, whose twin brother was killed in Iraq last November,
said soldiers sometimes were ordered to open fire on any vehicle
that didn't stop.
"In one case, there was a father, mother and three children,"
said Medina, whose unit arrived shortly after the shooting. "They
were shot many times. The car was full of blood. There was one kid
alive. He was alive for a few hours before being pronounced dead in
the hospital a few hours later.... It was horrible."
Kelly Dougherty and Elizabeth Wisdorf, two members of a
Colorado National Guard unit, said soldiers manning checkpoints from
their unit were ordered by commanders to take money and other property
from Iraqis.
"We would take things from them; we would take money in
the beginning, which made no sense to me because we just overthrew
their government, and they didn't have banks to put their money in,
so they would carry it with them," Wisdorf said. "Our chain of command
told us to do that because they felt the Iraqis ... they were terrorists."
Wisdorf said units frequently had no translators to help
soldiers explain to bewildered and sometimes angry drivers what was
happening.
"We had no way of communicating with the Iraqis," Wisdorf
said. "Guns pointed was as much communication as we had with these
people."
Both former soldiers were medics who had a few months each
of law-enforcement training years earlier, and they didn't learn
they were going to serve as military police officers in Iraq until
just before they left to go overseas.
"It was hard for me because I didn't have a military police
background," Dougherty said.
Hassan Rahim, a customs judge for nearly 40 years in Iraq,
was shot July 1, 2003, after driving under an overpass where U.S.
troops were manning a checkpoint, according to witnesses, the family
and documents prepared by their attorney.
"The cars were passing by, and suddenly the shooting started,"
said Mohammed Abbas, 43, who witnessed the shooting from a small
bakery nearby. The judge was driving to a produce market with his
son when they heard shots and began to slow down. As Rahim started
to make a left turn, he was struck in the back and killed. Witnesses said
the shots came from an American armored vehicle that was standing guard
on a traffic circle that leads to the 14th of July Bridge into the Green
Zone.
"The son got out of the car and started to yell," Abbas
said. "His son was crying and shouting. He said, 'My father is shot.'"
The Army denied the family's claim for $86,775.
"I told them I don't want compensation," said the son,
Maher Hassan Rahim, 35. "But (by making the claim) we were trying
to tell them that the value of the blood of an Iraqi person is not
so cheap."
'Climate of impunity'
Hundreds of claims allege improper conduct by military
personnel, yet there is little evidence in a number of cases that
the military conducted thorough investigations into the allegations.
Only hours after a June 18, 2003, shooting into a crowd
of demonstrators that left two people dead in Baghdad, the military
publicly exonerated the soldiers in a press release issued by the
United States Central Command headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base,
Fla. The press release says that members of the 204th Military Police
Company responded "in self-defense" to a demonstration that had occurred
earlier that day.
The Army also denied a civil claim filed by the family
of one of the dead demonstrators, Jafar Mola, saying the death was
"a result of combat operations."
The Daily News' analysis of the database found 259 claims
describing shootings that left at least 128 dead and 172 injured.
The actual number of shooting incidents is undoubtedly several times
higher because all claims were not entered into the database.
Coalition forces are only subject to the justice of their
own countries. In the case of American soldiers, who are subject to
the military's separate justice system, their own commanders often
decide whether they have committed crimes.
Fred Abrahams, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch,
said that by September 2003, his group had found credible allegations
in 94 death cases in Baghdad alone. Yet at that time, the Army acknowledged
only five criminal investigations into the actions of soldiers in all
of Iraq.
"We concluded that there was this climate of impunity where
soldiers feel like they can pull the trigger, and without any sense
that they could be held responsible for their actions, they're much
more likely to resort more quickly to lethal force," Abrahams said.
The military has court-martialed personnel for acts in
Iraq. One case in the database shows the Army paid a $50 claim to
an Iraqi who was kidnapped and robbed by a sergeant and a private
with the 19th Quartermaster Company of Fort Story, Va. Both soldiers
were court-martialed and sentenced to jail.
Army officials wouldn't say how many investigations and
courts-martial have been conducted, even though courts-martial generally
are open to the public. Capt. Regen Wilson, a spokesman for the Air
Force Office of Special Investigations, said since March 2003 that office
has conducted nine investigations of possible criminal wrongdoing in
all of southwest Asia, which includes Iraq. Six of those investigations
are still open, he said.
Les Nott, whose son was killed in an incident that also
left an Iraqi detainee dead and three other Iraqis wounded, said it
was obvious to him that the military had no interest in conducting a
thorough investigation.
"I believe that their motivation was to cover this up,"
said Nott, who retired from the Army after 23 years and now lives
in Cheyenne, Wy.
On the night of July 30, 2003, 24-year-old 1st Lt. Leif
E. Nott led a patrol to investigate shots fired near their military
compound in Balad Ruz, according Army Sgt. Mickey Anderson and Army
records of the incident. The shots turned out to be a few participants
at a large wedding party firing in the air to celebrate, according to
Anderson and the records.
Anderson said the 200 to 300 Iraqis at the party welcomed
the soldiers, offering them cake and juice. As a precaution, the soldiers
put plastic handcuffs on the groom, the best man and the father of
one of the men, and confiscated an assault rifle.
None of the three men was considered dangerous, Anderson
said, and they likely would have been released after a routine questioning.
"We just wanted to let them know you can't do that any
more," he said.
The soldiers were loading the detainees in a Bradley Fighting
Vehicles when a commander radioed to order the armored vehicles to
go somewhere else, leaving the soldiers to escort the detainees on foot
and without a radio to communicate with the compound, Anderson said.
According to Anderson and Army records, as the patrol walked
under streetlights about 200 yards from the compound, a Bradley
Fighting Vehicle position near the entrance opened fire, triggering
more fire from other soldiers in the compound.
"The next thing I knew I was on the ground, and my leg
was blown to pieces," Anderson said. "Other people were screaming
and moaning."
Anderson, Nott, an Army medic, the patrol's Iraqi translator
and the three Iraqi detainees were all hit by gunfire.
The Bradleys that opened fired drove to where Anderson
lay, he said, and as he crawled up on one of them to stop the shooting,
he was shot three more times at close range by an American soldier who
apparently stuck his 9mm pistol out of the armored vehicle without looking
at who was there.
Nott and one of the detainees, identified in claims records
as Abu Hassan, later died. Hassan's widow, who was left with nine
children to support, received $2,500 for her civil claim, according
to the records, which clearly identify the incident as "friendly fire"
and "not in response to enemy activity."
"Give her the money. Please. She's very patient — been
given the run around for eight months," says a hand-written note
from a military captain included in the Army records.
The Army told a different story to Nott's family and to
the public.
After his death, Nott was promoted to captain and awarded
a Bronze Star, and the citation for the medal says he "responded to
a unprovoked attack on his troop headquarters." That same account was
repeated in a newspaper story.
Les Nott said the family didn't learn the truth until a
member of his son's unit spoke to them at the funeral. Later, he said,
he, his wife and his son's widow traveled to Fort Hood, Texas, to personally
talk to members of the unit to find out what happened — a trip he paid
for himself.
"I shouldn't have to travel from Wyoming to Texas to find
out how my kid died," Nott said.
While at Fort Hood, Nott said, he obtained a lengthy report
on the investigation into the incident. Anderson said he wasn't asked
to give an official statement until 14 months later, after a journalist
in Washington, D.C., began asking questions.
"The report was a joke," Nott said. "Nobody wanted this
to happen, but it did happen. And after they had to deal with it,
there was one driving factor and one driving factor only: to make sure
that nobody gets blamed."
A one-paragraph press release provided last week by Fort
Hood officials says one soldier was killed and two wounded "during
an attack." Fort Hood spokesman Maj. Matt Garner said he was very
familiar with the shooting, but when asked for more information, he
said, "I'm not going to give you a statement. No."
Garner referred questions to Army headquarters. The Daily
News contacted three different officials at Army headquarters at the
Pentagon and left messages for a fourth official. None would discuss
the case, but one faxed a press release that alleges that Lt. Nott
"died of wounds received from hostile fire."
Both Nott and Anderson agreed that the shooting of the
detainees could be part of the reason the Army is trying to cover
up what happened.
"They told us hostile fire, and they'll still tell you
that if you ask them," Nott said, adding that someone should be held
accountable for what happened.
"This isn't the Army I was a part of for 23 years."
Fueling hatred
For many Iraqis, the hundreds of incidents described in
the claims and others never recorded in the database have turned them
against the American-led occupation.
Military personnel, attorneys, human rights experts and
Iraqis believe the incidents are fueling the growing insurgency. And,
they said, as intensity of the insurgency increases, soldiers become
even more apprehensive, creating an atmosphere for more allegations of
abuse and misconduct.
"If I could give you the clue for which reason the Americans
lost this war —because for me the war is lost — it's because of the
behavior of the soldiers," said Marc Henzelin, a Swiss attorney who
has worked with the Red Cross and is one of four attorneys identified
on the database as having filed claims in Iraq.
Like many Iraqis, Wafa Abdel Latif al-Mukhtar and her family
thought things would get better when the Americans came. Children
like her 12-year-old son, Mohammed Subhi al-Qubaisi, idolized the
American soldiers.
"In the beginning, the children saw the Americans and their
weapons and gear and binoculars and wanted to follow them and look
at them," the 45-year-old woman recalled during an interview in her
home.
On a warm night in June 2003, the family's opinions about
the Americans changed.
On that night, her son Mohammad decided to sleep on the
roof of his home with his twin brother, something many Iraqis do to
escape the hot summer nights. Al-Mukhtar said she and her family were
unaware that soldiers were searching a house across a vacant lot about
70 yards away.
One of the soldiers, according to the family, spotted the
12-year-old on the roof and fired, hitting him in the chest.
"I was downstairs in my room when I heard the sounds of
bullets," his mother recalled during an interview in her home. "Then
I heard the boys yelling."
A neighbor, she said, helped carry her wounded son downstairs.
"The kitchen was full of blood," she recalled.
Minutes later, soldiers broke down the door of her kitchen
and pointed guns at the people who had gathered in the room with
her bleeding son.
"I tried to explain to them why this boy was bleeding and
he (a soldier) kicked me and said, `Shut up, don't say anything,' "
she said.
The soldiers searched the house and found an assault rifle,
a type of weapon many Iraqis keep in their homes, and they refused
to allow neighbors to take the boy to the hospital, citing the 11 p.m.
curfew, the mother said. Later, a doctor from the neighborhood came and
pronounced the boy dead, she said.
Two weeks after Mohammad was killed, two others were killed
by American soldiers while sleeping on a rooftop in Baghdad, according
to a $2 million claim filed by a brother of one of the alleged victims.
"Everyone thought the whole situation would be better,
but it seems it's the opposite," Al-Mukhtar said, adding that the
opinion of Mohammad's twin bother, Mustafa, also changed about the
American soldiers. "Now, Mustafa said that when he sees them he wants
to be the first to kill them," she said. "The Americans think the Iraqis
are not human."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes.)
THINK Back to ALERTS
Take, for example, this
article from the Sunday, November 23, 2003, edition of The Seattle Times:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2001798856&zsection_id=268448413&slug=soldier23&date=20031123
Army misreads
Green Beret's disease
By Lisa Falkenberg
The Associated Press
KARNACK, Texas — By the time he shipped out in January
to prepare for the war in Iraq, Special Forces Staff Sgt. James
Alford was a wreck of a soldier.
For five months, he had been doing odd things. He
disappeared from Fort Campbell, Ky., for several days last year.
He lost equipment and lied to superiors. In December, he was demoted
from staff sergeant to sergeant.
In the Kuwaiti desert, he came apart. The hotshot
Green Beret who a year earlier had run circles around his team
members and was recommended for a Bronze Star in Afghanistan was
ordered to carry a notepad to remember orders. By March, he was being
cited for dereliction of duty, larceny and lying to superiors. He couldn't
even keep track of his gas mask.
Finally, in April, his commanders had had enough.
They ordered him to return to Fort Campbell to be court-martialed
and kicked out of the Special Forces.
"Your conduct is inconsistent with the integrity
and professionalism required by a Special Forces soldier," Lt.
Col. Christopher Conner wrote April 10.
Confused and disgraced, the soldier moved back into
his off-base home where he ate canned meat and anchovies, unaware
of the day, the month or the year.
Sensing something was wrong, a neighbor called Alford's
parents. They drove 600 miles from East Texas to find a son who'd
lost 30 pounds and could no longer drink from a glass, use a telephone,
button his shirt or say Amber, the name of his soldier wife who was
still stationed in the Middle East.
A month and several hospitals later, Alford's family
learned he was dying of a disease eating away his brain. He had
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), an extremely rare and fatal degenerative
brain disorder akin to "mad-cow" disease that causes rapid, progressive
dementia.
Now, as the 25-year-old soldier wastes away in his
boyhood home, his parents and his wife are struggling to understand
how the military could have misdiagnosed Alford's erratic, forgetful
behavior as nothing more than the symptoms of a sloppy, incompetent
soldier.
"He had to hold his hands to keep them from shaking,
but they saw nothing wrong with my child," his mother, Gail Alford,
a nine-year Army veteran, said recently from her home in a rural
community near Marshall, Texas.
Alford's parents say the Special Forces staff told
them that a doctor in Kuwait found nothing wrong with him and that
a psychiatrist there had said Alford was "faking it."
Army officials have acknowledged that the 5th Special
Forces Group erred and, more than eight months after Alford's
demotion, they reinstated his staff-sergeant rank.
But the dying soldier's family wants more. They
want a public apology for the ridicule and disgrace they say filled
Alford's final days of service.
"They called him stupid, told him he was lazy, he
was a liar, that he wasn't any good, that he was a faker," his
mother said, recalling what little her son could tell her about
his time in Kuwait. "I want them shamed the way they shamed my son."
And they want his pay restored and his medical benefits
maintained. The Army declared Alford medically incompetent, placed
him on retirement status and froze his pay earlier this month
until his parents can prove in court they are his legal guardians.
His mother said she was given power of attorney long ago.
Army officials say they're just following procedures
intended to protect soldiers.
Alford's father, retired Army Command Sgt. Maj.
John Alford, who served 34 years, said that since his son has
been diagnosed, Army doctors have been caring and professional,
and commanders stationed his son's wife, Army Spc. Amber Alford,
in Texas near her husband.
He mainly faults the Special Forces.
"I think they did everything they could to break
him, mentally and physically," he said.
Maj. Robert Gowan, a spokesman for Army Special
Forces Command, said 5th Group is saddened by the soldier's disease
and regrets that it wasn't diagnosed sooner, but that a public apology
may not be appropriate because the Army "acted on the information
they had available at the time."
Alford may have tried to conceal his symptoms, said
Dr. Steve Williams, a clinical fellow in the Division of Infectious
Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
"He was capable of masking the symptoms because
he was resourceful and he was a smart guy," said Williams, who
diagnosed Alford with CJD. "I'd ask him what floor he was on, and
I could catch him looking outside and counting the number of windows."
Col. David Dooley, an infectious-disease doctor
at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, said Special Forces
staff members shouldn't take the blame for missing Alford's rare
illness. A delayed diagnosis is "typical and classic"; the average
lag time is five to seven months, he said.
"If I'm going to hold anything against them, they
might have come around a little faster when a medical problem
was recognized," Dooley said. "The Special Forces group was fairly
inert to the face of data that we medics were showing them."
Staff Sgt. Miguel Fabbiani, a friend of Alford's
and a member of the same team based at Fort Campbell, said Alford's
symptoms escalated during wartime when he was working with a new
group that didn't know him as well.
Alford now lies in pastel sheets next to a wall
painting of John Wayne. Wearing a Houston Texans T-shirt that hangs
like a hospital gown, he stares absently into a TV that glows 24
hours, his hands gripping stuffed animals to keep them from clenching
shut.
"He knows his name, sometimes," says his wife. "Sometimes
I'll go up to him, wink at him and make kissy faces and he laughs."
"It's very sad when the people who are putting their
life on the line for this country should be treated like this,"
Alford's father said. "This has been a bureaucratic nightmare. We've
got enough to deal with on a daily basis, caring after our son and
dealing with our pain and weariness and our suffering, to have to fight
the U.S. Army."
The Alfords got their first call from 5th Group
Command last week. The soldier's father said the deputy commander
apologized for what the family had been through, assigned a lawyer
to work with them on pay and benefits issues and said he would
personally handle any future problems.
John Alford knew his son might not live long enough
to get the good news, so he had already told him a "white lie"
that he had been vindicated.
"It was very important to him because he kept saying,
'I didn't do anything wrong, Daddy.' "
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section
107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes.)
MAMMA's Footnote:
Ms. Falkenberg's piece is a captivating 'Human Interest'
story. However, considering the questions and the implications
that 'coverage' of this topic raises, is such a superficial form
of 'Journalism' enough?
Why didn't the 'coverage' of this tragedy answer
the questions that people reading it must have asked? Questions
like....
- While
the article noted "a month and several hospitals later" in indicating
that an accurate diagnosis is now known...it failed to note if all
the hospitals involved were all 'military'...so IS the CJD diagnosis
accurate????
- If it's a matter of "up to 10%" of CJD victims
die...why does the military have this young man on a 'death bed'
watch?
- How did SSgt Alford contract such a disease?
- Where did he 'catch' it?
- Who else is 'at risk' for getting this disease?
- What is the
likelihood that the military might possibly be lying about the
'true' cause (considering the extensive adverse reaction time of toxic 'drugs' like Larium)
of Alford's disease?
- IF this is an accurate diagnosis...is anything
being done to ensure that the disease IS NOT spreading??? (Needless
to say, considering the military's 'history' of taking steps to
prevent repeats of 'tragedies'....that isn't likely!)
- If CJD (generally)
affects 40-65 year olds, doesn't the family of this 25 year old
deserve HONEST answers to their questions?
You might want to read a three-part
series on "Anthrax, GOCO's and Designer Germs" by Jim Rarey which
is archived at: http://www.worldnewsstand.net/MediumRare/Archives.htm.
The author is a free lance writer based in Romulus, Michigan.
He is a former newspaper editor and investigative reporter, a retired
customs administrator and accountant, and a student of history and
the U.S. Constitution.
When Mr. Rarey, who can be reached at: "Jim Rarey"
<jimrarey@comcast.net>, was
questioned about this article, he said...
"We have known for
several years that Bioport was using bovine material when they
didn't know the country of origin. For that and several other
reasons, the FDA refused to approve a million or so batches of the
vaccine. Now the CDC and DOD have released those batches and they
are being used to vaccinate the troops."
and included the following material to THINK about:
Mad Cow Disease (BSE) and Vaccinations
by Dawn Richardson
PROVE (Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education)
There has been a lot of talk in the news lately
about risks of Mad Cow Disease (BSE), but not many people are
aware that some vaccines can be contaminated and theoretically spread
the disease. Last summer, the FDA met to discuss the contamination
of vaccines that use bovine products in the manufacturing process.
The FDA has posted, on their web site, which vaccines may contain contaminated
bovine-derived materials.
The current list (taken from http://www.fda.gov/cber/BSE/BSE.htm#usda)
of vaccines using bovine-derived materials from countries on the
USDA’s BSE list or from unknown countries include:
1) Aventis Pasteur, S.A.’s Haemophilus
influenzae type b conjugate vaccine, ActHIB (ActHIB is also marketed
as OmniHIBT by SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals)
2) North American Vaccine Inc.’s diphtheria
and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccine, CertivaT
3) SmithKline Beecham Biological’s DTaP
vaccine, Infanrix
4) SmithKline Beecham Biological’s Hepatitis
A vaccine, Havrix
Vaccines that use bovine-derived materials of unknown
geographical origins include:
1) Aventis Pasteur, S.A.’s inactivated
polio vaccine, IPOL
2) BioPort’s Anthrax
vaccine
3) Lederle Laboratories’ Pneumococcal
polysaccharide vaccine, PNU-INUNE
Additionally, there was a recent media report that
a British national whose blood was used to make polio vaccine administered
in Ireland, had been diagnosed with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
(the human form of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow
disease.) You can read that at: http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20001219_1915.html
Sources of further information:
1) Dawn Richardson, PROVE prove@vaccineinfo.net
(email) http://vaccineinfo.net/ (website)
2) Vaccines: Are They Really Safe
and Effective? A parent’s Guide to Childhood Shots; Neil
Z. Miller; (800) 800-1927
3) National Vaccine Information Center
(http://www.909shot.com) (703) 938-5768
MAMMA's Preface:
The following three part series was published by
the Free Press. It is obvious that David
Zeman, did his homework. But, it goes past SAD! to see it end up as 'Human
Interest' rhetoric. The indications are that, at the end of the day, he,
like too many others before him, filed his 'story', turned out the lights
and went home...having served only ONE of the ABUSE VICTIMS (he wrote about).
What about ALL the others, who are still denied TRUTH and JUSTICE?
Note...some
(comments) have been interjected.
PART I:
DUTY, HONOR, BETRAYAL: How U.S. turned
its back on poisoned WWII vets
As enlisted men, they were the military's lab rats
November 10, 2004
BY DAVID ZEMAN
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
The room is small and cramped, like a vault. The soldiers
are in full combat g