The anti-malaria drug Lariam can have serious side effects (Picture: Alamy)<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Defence has settled a nine-year legal case relating to the controversial use of the anti-malaria drug Lariam out of court, awarding a “substantial sum” to hundreds of claimants.<\/p>\n
More than 600 service personnel claimed to have suffered physical and psychological side effects of the drug, which was regularly\u00a0prescribed to troops deployed to countries with a high malaria risk between 2007 and 2015.<\/p>\n
Lariam has been linked to severe depression and other mental illnesses.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the MOD addressed the criticism it had received over many years for issuing the drug to troops.<\/p>\n
“The Ministry of Defence takes the health and welfare of our personnel very seriously, taking every possible precaution to ensure their safety\u00a0\u2013\u00a0including protecting them against malaria, a potentially fatal disease,” said an\u00a0MOD spokesperson.<\/p>\n
According to government figures, at least 17,000 members of the Armed Forces were previously prescribed Lariam.<\/p>\n
The drug is used to help prevent people from contracting malaria, a disease which causes serious illness and, in severe cases, can be fatal.<\/p>\n
It is usually taken weekly in tablet form and was mostly issued to British troops deploying to sub-Saharan Africa, although it was also given to personnel deploying to Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
Other possible side effects of the drug include nausea, dizziness and hallucinations.<\/p>\n
![\"British](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GRITROCK-2015-3-SFW.jpg\")
British troops deployed to Sierra Leone in 2015 were prescribed Lariam<\/p>\n
Hilary Meredith Solicitors, representing a class action suit by former service personnel allegedly suffering from the consequences of taking Lariam, says the out-of-court settlement was “substantial”.<\/p>\n
“After a nine-year legal battle and some very dark moments along the way, I am delighted to confirm that this landmark legal action has now settled out of court,” said Hilary Meredith-Beckham, chair of Hilary Meredith Solicitors.<\/p>\n
“I would like to pay tribute to the bravery of our clients\u00a0\u2013\u00a0cast aside by the MOD\u00a0\u2013\u00a0they put their faith in me to deliver justice.”<\/p>\n
However, the law firm has complained of a “gagging clause to prevent the details becoming public.”<\/p>\n
The MOD has defended its handling of the case.<\/p>\n
“The majority of this case took place under the previous government,” it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
“Litigation ended in October 2024, when the damages for over 400 claims in relation to the prescription of Lariam many years ago were settled, avoiding a costly and time-consuming trial.<\/p>\n
“As any legal professional knows, it is a usual feature of the settlement terms that both parties agree not to publicly disclose the damages awarded to claimants and to suggest anything otherwise is disingenuous.”<\/p>\n
MOD under fire\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite the settlement, Hilary Meredith Solicitors were critical of the MOD’s handling of the case, which they argue took too long to resolve.<\/p>\n
“This case could have been settled within five years,”\u00a0said Hilary Meredith-Beckham.<\/p>\n
“It was complex involving the causal effects of the tablet on each individual soldier and, in fairness, we suffered the Covid years in the middle, but nine years is outrageous.”<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as our clients, it is the taxpayer who pays the price when the defendant is a government body.”<\/p>\n
The MOD introduced a new policy on prescribing anti-malarial drugs in 2016, and records show it only prescribed Lariam four times between October 2024 and March 2025, after a risk assessment.<\/p>\n
Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.forcesnews.com\/themes\/custom\/forcesnet_2020\/forcesnet_retheme\/assets\/dist\/images\/join-newsletter.svg\")
<\/p>\n
WatchUsOn
\n ![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.forcesnews.com\/themes\/custom\/forcesnet_2020\/forcesnet_retheme\/assets\/dist\/images\/watch-us-youtube.svg\")
<\/p>\n
Boat smashes into USS Midway\ud83e\udd26<\/p>\n
RAF Chinook helps fight Cyprus wildfire\ud83d\udd25<\/p>\n
Secrets of the British Army’s parade rule book<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The anti-malaria drug Lariam can have serious side effects (Picture: Alamy) The Ministry of Defence has settled a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[64,63,137,490],"class_list":{"0":"post-22217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-medication"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}