Australian Defence Force Face Off With Soldiers Over Lariam

Former soldiers, families face military officials in Townsville over anti-malaria drug side effects
ABC Australia
By Jesse Dorsett
Updated yesterday at 7:28pm

PHOTO: Mefloquine, also known as Lariam, is known to cause mental health problems.

(Flickr: David Davies)

The military's top brass has come face to face with former soldiers and their families suffering depression and anxiety after being given controversial anti-malaria drugs on deployment.

Key points: 2,000 ADF personnel given anti-malaria drug in East Timor over five years
Drug side effects include mood swings and suicidal thoughts
ADF says they did not know drugs would produce chronic problems
A forum has been held in Townsville, in north Queensland, to give former soldiers, ex-service organisations and health professional the chance to discuss the effects of anti-malaria medication Mefloquine, as well as the drug Tafenoquine.

Nearly 2,000 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel were prescribed Mefloquine, also known as Lariam, primarily in East Timor, between July 2000 and June 2015.

The drug is known to cause agitation, mood swings, panic attacks, confusion, hallucinations, aggression, psychosis and suicidal thoughts in a small number of patients.

Another 492 took Tafenoquine as part of a trial in 2000 and 2001.
read more here and remember US soldiers took it too!

UK:Almost 1,000 Personnel Required Psychiatric Treatment After Taking Lariam

Almost 1,000 members of Armed Forces require psychiatric treatment after being given anti-Malaria drug linked to mental health problems
Daily Mail
By COREY CHARLTON FOR MAILONLINE
15 April 2015

Almost 1,000 personnel required psychiatric treatment after taking drug
They were prescribed anti-malarial drug Lariam by the Ministry of Defence
The discredited product's side effects include psychosis and hallucinations
Retired Major General Alastair Duncan is currently in a psychiatric unit
He was prescribed the drug prior to a deployment in Sierra Leone

A retired major general is among 1,000 British service personnel requiring psychiatric treatment after taking an anti-malarial drug issued by the Ministry of Defence.

New figures released by the MoD show that since 2008, 994 personnel have been treated for mental health issues after having been prescribed Lariam.

Despite Lariam - the brand name for the drug mefloquine - being banned by the U.S. military due to concerns over side effects, the MoD has ignored appeals to stop prescribing it in what critics say is an escalating 'scandal'.

Major-General Alastair Duncan (pictured) is currently in a psychiatric unit after having been given the drug prior to a deployment in Sierra Leone

According to The Independent's Jonathan Owen, retired Major General Alastair Duncan is currently in a psychiatric unit following a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder episode four months ago.

Maj-Gen Duncan was given the drug Lariam before a deployment to Sierra Leone.

read more here


We did know about this, but they just stopped talking about it.

Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths

April 27, 2004 DoD, VA to study malaria drug’s side effects Associated Press

The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs will study the side effects of Lariam, a drug given to servicemen to prevent malaria, Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner said.

The use of Lariam came up in investigations of murders and murder-suicides involving Fort Bragg soldiers in the summer of 2002, when four soldiers were accused of killing their wives. Two of those soldiers committed suicide immediately and a third killed himself in jail.

The three soldiers who killed themselves had served in Afghanistan, where Lariam is routinely used by U.S. troops. The fourth, who is still awaiting trial, did not serve there.

A November 2002 report by the office of the Army Surgeon General said two of the four soldiers had taken Lariam, but the Army would not say which. The report said Lariam probably did not factor in the killings.

Turner said a subcommittee of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board met two weeks ago to consider ways to study the use of Lariam among service members. A Veterans Affairs spokeswoman said the VA will review the issue but has not issued a report on the study.

Lariam, which is also known as mefloquine, is routinely prescribed to soldiers working in countries where malaria is a problem. Some people have blamed it for causing psychotic reactions, including depression, hallucinations and thoughts of suicide.

Doctor: Anti-malarial drug may be harmful
Army Times

In the past six weeks, Dr. Michael Hoffer has treated nine service members who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan unable to walk a straight line or stand still without staggering. Some said objects appeared to spin around them for more than an hour at a time.

A Navy commander and director of the Department of Defense Spatial Orientation Center at Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Hoffer believes the problems are linked to a drug called Lariam "known generically as mefloquine" that the military gives to troops to prevent malaria.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has urged the Pentagon to set a timeline for a Defense Department study, announced in March, of negative effects from Lariam and other anti-malarial drugs.

And then there were more

VA Warns Doctors About Lariam, United Press International, 25 June 2004

And even more on Wounded Times for Lariam

Anti-malarial drug linked to Afghan massacre a long time ago

What the hell is going on when reports do not research what they report on? Here is one more case of that.

MARCH 26, 2012 CNN reported Military Scrambles To Limit Malaria Drug Just After Afghanistan Massacre

That isn't the problem, even though reports on this drug go way back.

VA issued warning on Lariam in 2004

Spc. Adam Kuligowski's problems began because he couldn't sleep, April 2010

Army curbs prescriptions of anti-malaria drug Mefloquine NOVEMBER 20, 2011 and this one the same month. After four decades of use, the U.S. Army is banning the use of mefloquine (an anti-malaria drug) because of side effects.

Is Mefloquine the new Agent Orange? from August 2012

This report claims that it is "new information" but it isn't.

Anti-malarial drug linked to Afghan massacre
Soldier was taking mefloquine when he killed 16 civilians, report indicates
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Jul. 13, 2013

In less than a month, Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be sentenced for the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians in March 2012.

His attorney, John Henry Browne, has not publicly disclosed whether he will use a mental health defense to fight for a parole-eligible sentence.

But an argument could be made that Bales, 40, was out of his mind:

■ He was treated for a traumatic brain injury resulting from a rollover accident in 2010 and possibly had post-traumatic stress disorder.

■ He admitted to using steroids, which can cause aggression and violence.

■ And new evidence suggests he was prescribed an anti-malaria drug known to cause hallucinations, aggression and psychotic behavior in some patients.
read more here

Is Mefloquine the new Agent Orange?

Is Mefloquine the new Agent Orange?
By Samantha A. Torrence
Aug 6, 2012

During Vietnam troops were exposed to Agent Orange. Later there was Gulf War Syndrome and depleted Uranium exposure. Now the military is dealing with a rash of military members with PTSD, and another chemical agent may be responsible for the diagnosis.

Malaria is a major concern to troops who are deployed around the world where contracting the disease is a risk. It is the Department of Defense policy that service members deployed to these areas must take an anti-malaria drug. There are various drugs available such as doxycycline, chloroquine, malarone, and mefloquine. Each drug comes with its unique problems such as high monetary cost in the case of malarone and photosensitivity, nausea, vomiting, and resistance in the cases of doxycycline and chloroquine. Most anti-malaria drugs must also be taken once a day which causes problems with consistency and potency for the soldiers who miss a dose and for that reason Mefloquine, which is only taken once a week, has been prescribed.

Mefloquine(Lariam®) may have a higher rate of compliance but it comes at a high cost to soldiers and American taxpayers. Mefloquine can cause brain injury, hallucinations, paranoia, psychosis and can predispose service members to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Read more

Troop Mental Ills: Psychiatric or Organic?

Troop Mental Ills: Psychiatric or Organic?
By ELSPETH CAMERON RITCHIE
May 22, 2012

There’s a continuing tension over whether mental disorders are “organic” or “psychological”. The first is easier to define — a brain injury caused by an insult, such as a bullet wound, blow to the head or bomb blast. “Psychological” is usually chalked up to bad parenting.

Two new debates raise this issue again. One is whether “post-traumatic stress disorder” should be called “post-traumatic brain injury”. The other is the emerging findings on “CTE” — chronic traumatic encephalopathy — which shows long-acting brain changes after concussions.

The term “shell shock” was later re-named “not yet diagnosed, nervous”, “battle fatigue”, “PTSD” and “combat stress reaction”. Now the term “post-traumatic stress injury” is being considered.


Dr. Remington Nevin has proposed that some of these reactions are actually the result of neurotoxic injuries from certain anti-malarial medications given to soldiers over the years, most recently mefloquine, or Lariam®.

read more here

Army dropped Lariam finally!!

Army scales back use of anti-malaria drug

Concerns centered on soldiers with brain injury, anxiety
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 22, 2009 14:53:47 EDT

The Army has dropped Lariam — the drug linked to side effects including suicidal tendencies, anxiety, aggression and paranoia — as its preferred protection against malaria because doctors had inadvertently prescribed it to people who should not take it.

Lariam, the brand name for mefloquine, should not be given to anyone with symptoms of a brain injury, depression or anxiety disorder, which describes many troops who have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

The Army’s new choice for anti-malarial protection is doxycycline, a generic antibiotic.

“In areas where doxycycline and mefloquine are equally efficacious in preventing malaria, doxycycline is the drug of choice,” Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker said in a memo dated Feb. 2.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/army_lariam_032209w/

VA issued warning on Lariam in 2004

VA Warns Doctors About Lariam
United Press International
25 June 2004
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans Affairs is warning doctors to watch for long-term mental problems and other health effects from an anti-malaria drug given to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.The drug is mefloquine, known by the brand name Lariam, which has been given to tens of thousands of soldiers since the war on terrorism began. Some of those soldiers say it has provoked severe mental and physical problems including suicidal and violent behavior, psychosis, convulsions and balance disorders.

Last year the Food and Drug Administration began warning that problems might last "long after" someone stops taking it.

The VA warned its own doctors Wednesday that the drug "may rarely be associated with certain long-term chronic health problems that persist for weeks, months, and even years after the drug is stopped," according to a summary of published studies by a VA panel of experts. The summary accompanies an "information letter" from the VA's acting undersecretary for health, Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, to healthcare professionals who treat veterans.Veterans' advocates praised the VA but said the Pentagon seems to have lost track of who has taken the drug -- making the size of a potentially serious problem unclear.While little mefloquine was used in the first Gulf War, advocates said a similar dearth of medical data has thwarted efforts to get to the bottom of Gulf War Syndrome for a decade. Investigators simply did not know what drugs or vaccines -- possible contributors to that syndrome -- were given to solders.

"We are pleased that the VA is taking a proactive approach to this situation," said Steve Smithson, assistant director of the American Legion's National Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission."It is no secret that the military did not do a good job of record keeping in the first Gulf War," said Smithson. "Early reports on Lariam make me concerned that we did not learn the lessons from the first Gulf War in that it is not being documented in health records."

http://www.refusingtokill.net/disability/va_warns_doctors_about_lariam.htm

Sgt. Marvin Lee Branch

But last Christmas, only months after the initial wave of killings, Fort Bragg was again the scene of tragedy when another service member, Sgt. Marvin Lee Branch, allegedly tried to murder his wife. How the situation was handled is indicative of the larger problem. Restraining orders protecting Carol Branch were dismissed within weeks of the attack, and she complained of receiving very little support: "I'm trying to save my life and I've got to beg (the Army) for help? I can see how those other mothers died. They were trapped." Branch said her husband had a history of abusive behavior, but he became uncontrollably violent upon returning from duty in Afghanistan. An Army spokesman confirmed that soldiers in Sgt. Branch's unit had taken Lariam, but would not confirm whether Branch had as well.
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles/Wokusch_War-DomesticViolence.htm

Anthony Mertz

Anti-malaria drug cited in Illinois murder
By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted
From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk
Published 2/21/2003 3:33 PM

CHARLESTON, Ill., Feb. 21 (UPI) -- The lawyer for a former Marine convicted of murder will tell an Illinois jury next week that an anti-malaria drug associated with psychotic behavior and aggression triggered the killing, and he should be spared the death penalty.

The case marks the first time that side effects of the drug, called Lariam, have been raised in front of a U.S. jury in a criminal case. Some believe the drug could have played a role in a string of killings by Fort Bragg soldiers last summer, though the Army calls that unlikely.

Anthony Mertz, 26, was convicted Feb. 12 of killing fellow Eastern Illinois University student Shannon McNamara in her Charleston, Ill., apartment on June 12, 2001. The jury is now hearing testimony before deciding whether to sentence him to death.

"When the Marines gave Lariam to my client they set in motion a chain of events that caused the death of Shannon McNamara," defense counsel David Williams told United Press International Friday.

http://www.aaconsult.com/lariam/lariam_news_52.html

This is from Jonathan Shay in his interview with PBS on a Soldier's Heart

Psychiatrist and author, Odysseus in America

And my personal theory of what lay behind those horrible, horrible murder suicides at Fort Bragg a couple of years ago, these were all staff NCOs … and officers in Special Operations, which is the most macho of all the formations. And what's more, they had been deployed repeatedly into very dangerous, very confusing and ambiguous operations, and had come back with injuries that they could not ask for help with, because they were afraid it would end their careers. And just by coincidence, a number of them broke at the same time, and broke in this catastrophic way. That's my thought about what happened there. This is not likely to be happening with junior enlisted people who I think can get help.
from Front Line Soldier's Heart
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/themes/stigma.html

4 Wives Slain In 6 Weeks At Fort Bragg
Husbands Blamed For Deaths, 3 Of The Men Served In Afghanistan


FORT BRAGG, N.C., July 26, 2002

Fayetteville, N.C., police said that was when Sgt. 1st Class Rigoberto Nieves — a soldier in the 3rd Special Forces Group who had been back from Afghanistan just two days — shot his wife, Teresa, and then himself in their bedroom.

Officials said Nieves had requested leave to resolve personal problems

Sheriff's investigators said Jennifer Wright was strangled June 29. Her husband, Master Sgt. William Wright of the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, reported her missing two days later. Then on July 19, he led investigators to her body in Hoke County and was charged with murder.

Wright, who had been back from Afghanistan about a month, had moved out of his house and was living in the barracks.

The couple met in high school in Mason, Ohio, about 30 miles north of Cincinnati. They married shortly after Jennifer graduated.

Her father, Archie Watson, said the Wrights had talked recently about divorce. Jennifer had grown tired of military life, her father said, but William Wright was reluctant to let her go.


Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Floyd shot his wife, Andrea, a native of Alliance, Ohio, then killed himself in their Stedman home.

The Fayetteville Observer reported Floyd was a member of Delta Force, the secretive anti-terrorism unit based at Fort Bragg. He returned from Afghanistan in January, officials said. The couple's three children were in Ohio visiting relatives at the time of the deaths.


In the fourth case, Army Sgt. Cedric Ramon Griffin, 28, was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree arson in the July 9 death of his wife, Cumberland County Sheriff Moose Butler said.

Marilyn Griffin, 32, was found dead in the burning home. Her two children escaped the fire.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/31/national/main517033.shtml

Third Bragg soldier took malaria drug

By Mark Benjamin and Dan Olmsted
From the Washington Politics & Policy Desk


Published 8/17/2002 3:00 PM



FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Friends of the three Fort Bragg soldiers suspected of killing their wives this summer say the men exhibited unusual anger and incoherence after returning from Afghanistan where they were given an anti-malaria drug associated with aggression and mental problems.

One of the soldiers was "almost incoherent" and visibly shaking while describing marital problems to a neighbor. Another became unable to control his anger at his wife in public, startling those who knew him. A third puzzled his new neighbors with his strange behavior.

http://home.att.net/~kjo/ftbragg2.htm

Read and comment on this story from UPI on the Army's three month study the slayings of four Army wives at Fort Bragg this summer which concluded that Lariam was not a factor in the murders.

The report has sparked claims the military is covering up problems with a drug it invented and licensed. "Our military said there is no problem with (Lariam) because they developed it," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich. "The hardest thing to do is develop a drug and then admit there is a problem."

Lariam is the most effective anti-malarial drug known and has been used by thousands of Peace Corps Volunteers over the past ten years. However, the drug's potential side effects are rarely reported and include agitation, depression and aggression. In July, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., called for an independent medical investigation to protect the health of Peace Corps volunteers, who are routinely prescribed the drug.
Read our ongoing coverage of the Lariam controversy at:
The Lariam Controversy
Read the story about the results of the Fort Bragg study at:
Army Fort Bragg study faces scrutiny*
http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/1010667.html

So why is it still being used?

Malaria Chemoprophylaxis for Coalition Troops in Afghanistan -

Sep 18, 2007

Although mefloquine may be the drug most often selected, Canadian Forces members have the option of using either mefloquine weekly or doxycycline daily, Journal of American Medical Association (subscription),

Links to medications suspected with non-combat deaths

This is a reposting to go with the Ambien post. We need to consider all of these as well.

Suspected Lariam links

April 27, 2004DoD, VA to study malaria drug’s side effectsAssociated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.
The Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs will study the side effects of Lariam, a drug given to servicemen to prevent malaria, Pentagon spokesman Jim Turner said.
The use of Lariam came up in investigations of murders and murder-suicides involving Fort Bragg soldiers in the summer of 2002, when four soldiers were accused of killing their wives. Two of those soldiers committed suicide immediately and a third killed himself in jail.
The three soldiers who killed themselves had served in Afghanistan, where Lariam is routinely used by U.S. troops. The fourth, who is still awaiting trial, did not serve there.
A November 2002 report by the office of the Army Surgeon General said two of the four soldiers had taken Lariam, but the Army would not say which. The report said Lariam probably did not factor in the killings.
Turner said a subcommittee of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board met two weeks ago to consider ways to study the use of Lariam among service members. A Veterans Affairs spokeswoman said the VA will review the issue but has not issued a report on the study.
Lariam, which is also known as mefloquine, is routinely prescribed to soldiers working in countries where malaria is a problem. Some people have blamed it for causing psychotic reactions, including depression, hallucinations and thoughts of suicide.
http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/1-292925-2862062.php

Doctor: Anti-malarial drug may be harmful
In the past six weeks, Dr. Michael Hoffer has treated nine service members who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan unable to walk a straight line or stand still without staggering. Some said objects appeared to spin around them for more than an hour at a time.
A Navy commander and director of the Department of Defense Spatial Orientation Center at Naval Medical Center, San Diego, Hoffer believes the problems are linked to a drug called Lariam "known generically as mefloquine" that the military gives to troops to prevent malaria.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., has urged the Pentagon to set a timeline for a Defense Department study, announced in March, of negative effects from Lariam and other anti-malarial drugs.
http://www.armytimes.com/legacy/new/0-ARMYPAPER-2980109.php

Suspected Seroquel

According to the AP, Private First Class Steven Green told military
psychiatrists he was angry about the war, desperate to avenge the death of
comrades and driven to kill Iraqi citizens. The AP reports medical records show Pentagon doctors prescribed Green several small doses of Seroquel – a drug to regulate his mood – and directed him to get some sleep. One month after the examination, Green reportedly again told his battalion commander that he hated all Iraqis. He also allegedly threw a puppy from the roof of a building and then set the animal on fire while on patrol. But through it all, he was kept on duty manning a checkpoint in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq. Through it all, the U.S. military kept him in combat
http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/?articleid=10313

Taking SEROQUEL
A bipolar disorder treatment, SEROQUEL for the treatment of depressive episodes and acute manic episodes in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder

What is Seroquel?
Seroquel is an antipsychotic medication. It works by changing the actions of chemicals in the brain.

Seroquel is used to treat the symptoms of psychotic conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression).
Seroquel may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide

Important information about Seroquel
Seroquel is not for use in psychotic conditions that are related to dementia. Seroquel has caused fatal pneumonia or heart failure in older adults with dementia-related conditions.
Stop using Seroquel and call your doctor at once if you have the following symptoms: fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, uncontrolled muscle movements, symptoms that come on suddenly such as numbness or weakness, severe headache, and problems with vision, speech, or balance.

You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Your doctor will need to check you at regular visits for at least the first 12 weeks of treatment.
Call your doctor at once if you have any new or worsening symptoms such as: mood or behavior changes, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, or if you feel impulsive, irritable, agitated, hostile, aggressive, restless, hyperactive (mentally or physically), more depressed, or have thoughts about suicide or hurting yourself.
If you have any of these conditions, you may not be able to use Seroquel, or you may need a dosage adjustment or special tests during treatment.
Seroquel may cause you to have high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). Talk to your doctor if you have any signs of hyperglycemia such as increased thirst or urination, excessive hunger, or weakness. If you are diabetic, check your blood sugar levels on a regular basis while you are taking Seroquel.

You may have thoughts about suicide when you first start taking an antidepressant, especially if you are younger than 24 years old. Tell your doctor if you have worsening symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts during the first several weeks of treatment, or whenever your dose is changed.
http://www.drugs.com/seroquel.html

Pfc. Robert A. Guy 26 Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force Willards, Maryland Died due to a non-hostile incident near Karma, Iraq, on April 21, 2005 "Any little thing they do is a help," said Ann Guy of Willards, Md., whose son, Marine Pfc. Robert A. Guy, killed himself in Iraq on April 21, 2005 - a month after he was prescribed the antidepressant Zoloft with no monitoring.http://www.optruth.org/index.php/images/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2232&Itemid=116




Melissa Hobart, the East Haven native who collapsed and died in June 2004, had enlisted in the Army in early 2003 after attending nursing school, and initially was told she would be stationed in Alaska, her mother, Connie Hobart, said. When her orders were changed to Iraq, Melissa, the mother of a 3-year-old daughter, fell into a depression and sought help at Fort Hood, Texas, according to her mother. "Just before she got deployed, she said she was getting really depressed, so I told her to go talk to somebody," Connie Hobart recalled. "She said they put her on an antidepressant." Melissa, a medic, accepted her obligation to serve, even as her mother urged her to "go AWOL" and come home to Ladson, S.C., where the family had moved. But three months into her tour in Baghdad - and a week before she died - she told Connie she was feeling lost. "She wanted out of there. She said everybody's morale was low," Connie recalled. "She said the people over there would throw rocks at them, that they didn't want them there. It was making her sad." Around the same time, Melissa fainted and fell in her room, she told Connie in an e-mail. She said she had been checked out by a military doctor. The next week, while serving on guard duty in Baghdad, Melissa collapsed and died of what the Army has labeled "natural" causes. The autopsy report lists the cause of death as "undetermined."


Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren 44 Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Armor Cavalry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team, Oregon Army National Guard La Grande, Oregon Died of non-combat related injuries at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, on January 31, 2005 suicide When Army Sgt. 1st Class Mark C. Warren was diagnosed with depression soon after his deployment to Iraq, a military doctor handed him a supply of the mood-altering drug Effexor.


All three were given antidepressants to help them make it through their tours of duty in Iraq - and all came home in coffins.Warren,44, and Guy, 26, committed suicide last year, according to the military; Hobart, 22, collapsed in June 2004, of a still-undetermined cause.The three are among a growing number of mentally troubled service members who are being kept in combat and treated with potent psychotropic medications - a little-examined practice driven in part by a need to maintain troop strength.Interviews with troops, families and medical experts, as well as autopsy and investigative reports obtained by The Courant, reveal that the emphasis on retention has had dangerous, and sometimes tragic, consequences

On Aug. 7, Robert Ziarnick, 25, was accused of shooting at Greenwood Village police and carjacking a 2005 Acura before fleeing to Cherry Creek State Park. Seven months earlier, Ziarnick used a knife to cut the words "kill me" into his abdomen. His wife told police he had served in Iraq and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
http://www.democraticwarrior.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2798