Lawyer and ex-soldier issues 75 proceedings over army’s use of ‘toxic’ anti-malarial drug

A lawyer and former soldier has issued proceedings on behalf of 75 former soldiers who say they suffered adverse effects from an anti-malarial drug.

Norman Spicer, solicitor at Coleman Legal Partners, told Irish Legal News that he also suffered after he was administered with Lariam (mefloquine).

The anti-malarial drug has not been licensed for use in Ireland since 2016 but continues to be used by the Defence Forces, who have administered it to up to 7,000 soldiers since 1993, he said.

As many as 350 former soldiers who say they suffered adverse effects from the administration of the drug have now been in touch with the law firm, which has been instructed to issue 75 sets of proceedings so far.

The litigation argues that the drug is and was “known to be very toxic” and was administered in a way “that falls well below the standards that we might expect a drug to be prescribed under”.

Mr Spicer argues that a decision “was made from the top to blanket prescribe this drug, without having individual risk assessments”.

The lawyer said the drug was administered on a large number of missions to Africa as early as 1993 and more widely from 2001 on deployments to Eritrea, Liberia, Chad and Western Sahara.

It is now used on deployments to Mali and is being treated as “the drug of first resort in the Defence Forces for trips to certain parts of Africa”.

Speaking to Irish Legal News today, Mr Spicer said: “The army doesn’t seem to want to listen to international opinion on the drug - that it should be used as a drug of last resort, if not removed altogether.

“That’s certainly one of the major goals of our litigation and my involvement in this litigation, to stop the drug being issued and have it removed from circulation in the Defence Forces.”

A significant number of claims relating to the use of Lariam are already pending before the Irish courts, some since 2012 or 2013.

Mr Spicer’s firm is considering options, including case management, to help all the related litigation “advance at a steady pace”.