WHY US soldier Robert Bales killed 16 Afghan civilians last month remains a mystery, but his actions have revived a dispute over the use by US forces of an antimalarial drug that can cause psychiatric side effects.
On 20 March - three days after the massacre - the army expedited a review of whether mefloquine was being prescribed properly.
Mefloquine, sold under the trade name Lariam, was developed by the army to prevent malaria resistant to the previous treatment, chloroquine. In tests the drug caused psychiatric symptoms in nearly a third of cases, sometimes including depression and psychosis.
In a 2009 memo, the US army ordered alternative drugs be used where possible. It also requested that soldiers on the drug suffering anxiety, depression or confusion should stop taking it.
Furthermore, the memo banned mefloquine for soldiers who, like Bales, had recently suffered traumatic brain injury. It is not known whether Bales was taking mefloquine or not.
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