Drug Abuse: An Exploration of the Government's Use of Mefloquine at Guantánamo

32 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2012

See all articles by Mark Denbeaux

Mark Denbeaux

Seton Hall Law School

Sean August Camoni

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Brian Beroth

Center for Policy and Research; Independent

Meghan Chrisner

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Chrystal Loyer

Seton Hall University, School of Law '13

Paul Taylor

Independent

Date Written: February 10, 2012

Abstract

Mefloquine is an antimalarial drug that has long been known to cause severe neuropsychological adverse effects such as anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, aggression, psychotic behavior, mood changes, depression, memory impairment, convulsions, loss of coordination (ataxia), suicidal ideation, and possibly suicide, particularly in patients with a history of mental illness. A prescribing physician must exercise caution and informed judgment when weighing the risks and potential benefits of prescribing the drug. To administer this drug with its severe potential side effects without a malaria diagnosis and without taking a patient’s mental health history is not medically justified. Yet as a matter of official policy, the standard operating procedure implemented by the United States military at Guantanamo Bay was to administer high doses of mefloquine to detainees whether or not any use of the drug was medically appropriate and without consideration of the detainees’ mental health.

It is clear that the military employed a medically inappropriate treatment regime at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). It is less clear why, although the available evidence supports several possible conclusions. In view of the continued and unexplained refusal of the government to release full medical records for all detainees, it is not possible to determine whether this conduct was gross malpractice or deliberate misuse of the drug. In either case, it does not appear plausible from the available evidence that mefloquine was given to treat malaria. This suggests a darker possibility: that the military gave detainees the drug specifically to bring about the adverse side effects, either as part of enhanced interrogation techniques, experimentation in behavioral modification, or torture for some other purpose. While this Report does not reach a conclusion about the actual motives for this course of conduct, it does explore the legal rules that would apply were it determined that mefloquine was administered not to treat malaria but rather to exploit the neuropsychiatric effects of the drug.

Suggested Citation

Denbeaux, Mark and Camoni, Sean August and Beroth, Brian and Chrisner, Meghan and Loyer, Chrystal and Taylor, Paul, Drug Abuse: An Exploration of the Government's Use of Mefloquine at Guantánamo (February 10, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2002902 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2002902

Mark Denbeaux (Contact Author)

Seton Hall Law School ( email )

One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102-5210
United States

Sean August Camoni

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Brian Beroth

Center for Policy and Research ( email )

One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102-5210
United States

Independent ( email )

Meghan Chrisner

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Chrystal Loyer

Seton Hall University, School of Law '13 ( email )

One Newark Center
Newark, NJ 07102-5210
United States

Paul Taylor

Independent

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