Lariam timeline: From approval to psychosis warnings

Hundreds of British soldiers are suffering from mental illness after being given the drug

17,000 service personnel have been given Lariam over the last seven years

1970s - Developed by the US army

1989 - Approved for use in the UK and US

1996 - UK Committee on Safety of Medicines advises doctors to warn patients about the neuropsychiatric risks of taking the drug

2001 - First randomised, controlled trial of the drug in a mixed population of general travellers reveals that more than two-thirds reported side effects, and in six per cent of cases they were severe

2002 - A US Food and Drug Administration safety alert warns of reactions including depression, paranoia, hallucinations, anxiety, convulsions and psychotic behaviour

2007 - The former Roche chairman Dr Franz B Humer tells the company AGM that “more effective antimalarials with better side-effect profiles were now available, and these were generally used”.

The Independent from 27 September 2013

2013 - The Independent reveals how the MoD continues to use Lariam, during a year in which the US army declares it a drug of last resort which is banned by its special forces, and the US FDA issues a “black box” warning over its psychiatric side-effects. In the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency strengthens warnings on side-effects.

2014 - European Medicines Agency warns of the “predominance of neuropsychiatric adverse reactions” and Public Health England releases similar guidance and says Lariam “may increase risk of psychosis and anxiety reactions.”