THE TRUTH
Eight million Americans travel each year to countries where they are advised to take an anti-malarial drug. Taken As Directed shows why consumer advocates are concerned over Lariam and other controversial prescription drugs.
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Consumer Reports listed Lariam (mefloquine) as one of a “dirty dozen” common drugs identified as having known or suspected serious risks that were undetected or underestimated when the FDA approved them.“ Prescription for Trouble: Common Drugs, Hidden Dangers,” Consumer Reports, January 2006 |
| Dr. Donald Kennedy, FDA Commissioner: 1977-79, now Editor in Chief of Science. | “We desperately need a really effective national system for the epidemiology of drug reactions. We don't have anything close to it." "Strengthening the FDA" policy workshop, sponsored by The Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, Washington, DC, Feb. 21, 2007. |
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Public Citizen, the country’s premiere consumer watchdog agency, placed Lariam (mefloquine) on its “Worst Pills” list, citing its "severe Neuropsychiatric Adverse Effects.” September 2003. |
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A report by the Institute of Medicine, a blue-ribbon panel of government advisors, stated “The federal system for approving and regulating drugs is in serious disrepair, and a host of dramatic changes are needed to fix the problem. . . .” September 22, 2006. |