A Saskatchewan veteran who served in the military is speaking out about his experience with the anti-malarial drug mefloquine.
Mefloquine is a drug prescribed to Canadian soldiers when deployed to zones known to have the malaria disease.
Dave Bona was administered the drug during the 1990s for two separate deployments to Somalia and Rwanda.
When he returned to Canada, he wasn’t the same.
“Why are they still issuing this drug? It makes no sense. It’s almost as if they actually don’t care about their soldiers,” Bona said.
In 2013, a boxed warning was added to the label of the drug by the Food and Drug Administration, citing “neurologic and psychiatric side effects” associated with its use.
Dr. Remington Nevin, an anti-malarial medication expert based in Baltimore, Md., said during Bona’s deployment, soldiers weren’t properly briefed on the effects mefloquine had.