PDA

View Full Version : Dannatt "quite content to say sorry" over Lariam


kintyred
31st Aug 2016, 21:20
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37183873

Yet another breathtakingly arrogant pronouncement from the the "Flying Lord". Perhaps his most telling comment was that this debacle was caused by a lack of funds for the MoD. In other words, he thought that it was reasonable to expect those under his command to take cheap dodgy anti-malaria drugs so that he could he do his political masters' bidding.

sitigeltfel
1st Sep 2016, 06:07
Was pressure put on service personnel to take this drug and would refusal have triggered disciplinary action?

Tourist
1st Sep 2016, 08:33
To be fair, he let his son (who later had issues) take it so obviously did not believe it was a danger. You can only respond to the expert advice you are given.

Basil
1st Sep 2016, 08:51
As an airline pilot I stopped taking any Malarial prophylaxis.
When appropriate, I wore long sleeves and used repellent spray.

FantomZorbin
1st Sep 2016, 09:16
Would refusal to take anti-malaria medication and subsequently catching malaria be regarded as a self-inflicted injury?

Tankertrashnav
1st Sep 2016, 09:27
We used to take paludrine which I think was pretty universal before lariam and the later generation of anti-malarial drugs came along.

I notice that one of the side effects of paludrine is "reversible hair loss". In my case, unfortunately, the hair loss is irreversible. Do you think I have a case for suing the MOD? ;)

Wageslave
1st Sep 2016, 09:39
Yet another breathtakingly arrogant pronouncement from the the "Flying Lord".
What a breathtakingly arrogant post from the OP.

What has arrogance to do with it? The man has apologised for being the Senior man when the medics were prescribing a well known and well used drug that is in use the world over. What the **** is arrogant about that?
The arrogance, kintyred, is in the baseless accusation against the man and the "cheap dodgy" drug that is/was in global use at the time. Still, if you know better...

Anti senior officer chip needs removing from shoulder, methinks.

Shack37
1st Sep 2016, 10:11
We used to take paludrine which I think was pretty universal before lariam and the later generation of anti-malarial drugs came along.

I notice that one of the side effects of paludrine is "reversible hair loss". In my case, unfortunately, the hair loss is irreversible. Do you think I have a case for suing the MOD? http://cdn.pprune.org/images/smilies/wink2.gif



In a bowl beside the salt tablets by the wáter cooler:yuk:
As for reversible hair loss, I too look a bit like Mr. Sheen.

Two's in
1st Sep 2016, 12:17
When appropriate, I wore long sleeves and used repellent spray.

You mean Old Spice..?

Union Jack
1st Sep 2016, 12:53
You mean Old Spice..?

Ooh, you Brut....:D

Jack

Martin the Martian
1st Sep 2016, 12:59
I find the choice of words strange. How can anybody be 'content' to say sorry? What does that mean exactly?

And to outright refuse it himself, knowing the possible effects, when it was being prescribed to troops under his command, does not sit very easily.

Parson
1st Sep 2016, 13:39
Wageslave - well put

kintyred
1st Sep 2016, 14:02
Wageslave,

Read the man's words......he is 'quite content' to say sorry....not the contrition of one under whose watch a drug over which there was already a cloud (no longer prescribed in the US) was given to his men. He admitted that he himself didn't take it because of the side effects his son had suffered. If he had had any conscience he would at least have asked his chain of command to dig a little deeper rather than keeping quiet. Anti senior officer? Only when they don't take the responsibility for which they are paid.

Trash 'n' Navs
1st Sep 2016, 19:15
Hmmm, a Senior Officer asking those in their command to do something they're not prepared to.

It doesn't sit comfortably with me. I'd like to think it wouldn't happen in the military I served nor be so readily accepted as in the UK.

But times are different now....

Basil
1st Sep 2016, 19:35
You mean Old Spice..?
Buggah! I think you may have nailed a chronic problem but, alas, too late to effect a cure :{

Red Line Entry
1st Sep 2016, 22:32
Kintyred,

To quote you, 'read the man's words'. He does NOT say, 'the debacle was caused by lack of funds for the MOD'. He says that funding is an issue about financial settlements, not that it was regarding the inital prescription. My understanding from the medics is that Larium's side effects was well known at the time, but that it offered a level of immediate malarial resistance that other drugs did not. Thus they were faced with a choice: accept that some individuals would be affected by side effects, or potentially have individuals be vulnerable to catching malaria. It was a decision that was made from a clinical perspective, and not from a financial one.

Now, my information may prove to be wrong. The difference is, I will not start throwing mud at people trying their best to do their jobs without hard evidence that they were negligent. Can you say the same?

NutLoose
2nd Sep 2016, 12:23
notice that one of the side effects of paludrine is "reversible hair loss". In my case, unfortunately, the hair loss is irreversible. Do you think I have a case for suing the MOD?The MOD would respond would be to the effect that you have not lost any hair, but have simply grown up through it.

ricardian
2nd Sep 2016, 13:47
In a bowl beside the salt tablets by the wáter cooler:yuk:
As for reversible hair loss, I too look a bit like Mr. Sheen.
Paludrine, salt tablets & vitamin tablets on the tables in the airmen's mess and a monthly issue of concentrated fruit squash (RAF Sharjah, 1963-64)

Heathrow Harry
2nd Sep 2016, 14:04
lariam was quite commonly prescribed in the Uk at the time - I had a serious falling out with the nurse at my local docs when I said I wanted something else...

Courtney Mil
2nd Sep 2016, 22:43
Deployments in the Mid East I had the daily tablets and the once a week one. Most of us had to stop taking the weekly one because the effect was horrible. My regret is that I didn't stop taking them sooner. No, I can't identify the drugs, but paludrine was one of them.

Too late now.

Motleycallsign
3rd Sep 2016, 18:55
Courtney Mil, I believe the weekly drug was Chloroquine. I'm sure as aircrew in the RAF we were not allowed to take Lariam because of it's side effects, could be wrong fair while ago now!

Heathrow Harry
4th Sep 2016, 09:09
they all have issues - it's balance on how long you are likely to exposed to risk and effects of the drugs

Danny42C
5th Sep 2016, 17:37
A bit of a trawl through Google/Wiki brought up the following extracts (Bold print mine):

...Mefloquine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mefloquine?CachedSimilar
Mefloquine, sold under the brand names Lariam

Mepacrine (INN), also called quinacrine (USAN) or by the trade name Atabrine, is a drug with several medical applications. It is related to mefloquine...

In India/Burma in WWII, we were all recommended to take a Mepacrine tablet every day as a prophylactic against malaria. Most people (including me) did so, but there was no compulsion AFAIK. In spite of the "relation" cited above, I don't recall any neurological or psychiatric side effects - but some people reported a yellowing of the skin in consequence.

Danny42C.

Shack37
6th Sep 2016, 10:00
I donīt recall having any adverse effects taking Paludrine whilst serving in various places duing my time in the RAF. I did however get Malaria after a stint of working as a civilian on a small Indonesian island called Natuna.


I was taking Nivaquine prescribed by the then company doctor which obviously didnīt work as a prophylactic. After diagnosis I was treated and cured by a large dose of............yep, Nivaquine. Donīt recall any ill effects whilst taking it as a prophylactic either.