Random Analytica

May 26, 2023

63. Mefloquine Dispatches: Benjamin ‘BJ’ Sifrit, 26th May 2002

Background:

How did this United States Navy SEAL, who topped his Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training class and had earned a good-conduct medal become a cut-out and a murderer? Maybe ‘BJ’ wasn’t quite the ‘Natural Born Killer’ he thought of himself…

*****

It is 2019. I have recently been released from hospital and am spending the weekend with the kids. My eldest and I watch a couple of episodes of Forensic Files each day and discuss old technology. In the digital world, cheque fraud seems somehow quaint.

One day we come to an episode titled ‘Dirty Little Seacret’. Something triggers me. I read up on the case immediately after the show. Memories start to pop. I get excited and agitated as they hit and recede. T*, who is still watching something else on TV turns to me and asks if I am alright?

“BJ got mefloquine somewhere”, I state.

“Why do you say that, Dad”?, T* replies.

“Because we have the same backstory”.

In 2021 I am formally diagnosed with amnesia.

*****

Name: Benjamin Adam ‘BJ’ Sifrit.

Rank/Occupation: Hospital Corpsman Second Class, SEAL Team Two, United States Navy.

Date of Incident(s): 25-31 May 2002 (aged 24). Ocean City, Maryland, USA.

Incident(s): Double homicide (25-26 May), break and enter (31 May).

Victims: Joshua Ford (aged 32) and Martha ‘Geney’ Crutchley (aged 51).

Spouse: Erika Sifrit (aged 24).

Exposure to Anti-Quinolines: Not confirmed/potentially classified. I would be interested to see what BJ was doing in the first half of 1999, especially where he travelled too.

Conditions witnessed/documented that relate to Quinism: Prodromal symptoms including memory loss and peculiar behaviour. Lariam derangement on numerous occassions. Excessive risk taking behaviour. Psychosis (mefloquine madness) and criminality. M. William Phelps also details a number of further allegations. These include the potential that BJ was a serial killer (possibly in both the USA/Chile), a necrophile and even cannibalism was raised. The Ocean City murders may have been an act of ‘Blooding’. Other items that keep coming up in similar cases linked to mefloquine are acts of decapitation and trophy collecting.

Confounding Factors: Demolitions and diving. Excessive alcohol consumption.

Convictions: 2^nd degree Murder, First degree Assault (USA).

*****

OPINION: According to BJ, his military career started to spiral out of control immediately once he hooked up with Erika Grace. Although that might be technically true, what is missed is that they both met in Spring 1999 and swapped numbers but nothing eventuated. According to BJ he wasn’t interested in pursuing a relationship, nor a wife. Another friend, a NAVY SEAL wife who lived with BJ for four months not only reported that he wasn’t violent, he was quite shy around women. Yet a few months later, in late July, BJ meets Erika at a SEAL party and they are in an almost immediate ‘steady relationship’? Barely, three weeks pass then BJ rings his mother from the Silver Bell Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They are both just 21. As noted in Cruel Death:

BJ’s parents had never met Erika, nor had they even heard of her when BJ called shortly after the wedding to announce he was now married.

“August 21, [1999],” BJ told his mother over the phone. He sounded happy. “We met three weeks ago.” Recalling the incident later, Elizabeth Sifrit had tears in her eyes, her voice scratchy and weak from the pain of having to recall how her son’s life took such a nosedive into chaos.

Prodromal symptoms including memory loss, peculiar behaviour and even psychotic behaviour are early warning signs of Quinism.

As noted above, when BJ first called his Mum about getting married he stated that he met Erika three weeks prior when in fact they had met months earlier, even swapping numbers, possibly suggesting memory loss, even amnesia.

From being not that interested in a relationship to getting married in three weeks would definitely qualify as peculiar behaviour. In fact, just months after getting married he would start to get in trouble with the Navy and breaking absolute ‘no-no’ rules, like sneaking Erika into his Mountain and Arctic Warfare training, which is undertaken in Alaska.

Dr. Jane Quinn explained the literature already available on this subject during her 2018 testimony into the Use of the Quinoline anti-malarial drugs Mefloquine and Tafenoquine in the Australian Defence Force. Excerpt from Submission 73:

Just months of meeting Erika, BJ starts to get in serious trouble with the Navy after an impeccable 3-years of service and a good conduct medal. Within a year his acts of insubordination are so bad that he is court martialed and drummed out of the Navy on a bad conduct discharge. One Navy prosecutor said Sifrit seemed to have developed an “utter disregard for authority.” I actually believe these instances to be periods of Lariam derangement and excessive risk taking.

One possible case of Lariam derangement sticks out and I believe demonstrates the power dynamic between these two. . An excerpt via Murderpedia:

There’s even a disturbing account of a test Benjamin Sifrit gave his wife to see how far she would go for him. She recalled, after being married for a year, that he wanted her to become pregnant. Court documents indicate that she carried his baby for nearly four months.

Then, out of the blue, Erika Sifrit claimed her husband changed his mind and ordered her to “get an abortion or I’m going to dig it out of you,” Collins reported.

After she terminated the pregnancy, Benjamin Sifrit then told her: “I never wanted a kid, I just wanted to see how far you would go for me,” according to court documents.

Finally, we need to look at the psychotic behaviour, which some veterans have nicknamed mefloquine madness. No woman who weighs (at best) 45kg is kicking a door in, especially if she hasn’t trained at it. The first door I kicked in was at Bindoon and it took me three attempts and I almost broke my leg on the first attempt, much to the amusement of my mate who would go on to become an officer in one of the Commando regiments. Detective Bernal made the point that this particular bathroom door in Room 1101 was kicked in with such force that the doorknob hit the corner of the wall. BJ isn’t convincing anyone that he was asleep in the car on the night of the double homicide in Ocean City. Unfortunately, this fact was left out of both the trial and the subsequent Forensic Files episode and would have nailed BJ. He would have been where the action was. In fact, I even theorise that the killing of ‘Geney’ might have been BJ blooding Erika after he had shot and executed Josh. Then there are the ‘other’ allegations.

According to Erika’s own admissions during the pre-polygraph interview and the available forensic evidence which was re-enacted in part during the Dirty Little Seacret episode there are a number of events in the double homicide which would suggest mefloquine madness.

26^th May 2002

2.26AM: Erika calls her ‘friend’ who we will refer to as ‘Snake-Guy’ twice. Both calls last less than five seconds. She has been drinking and snorting Xanax for approximately 20-hours.

Shortly after she returns to find her prized bag moved, and her drugs and jewels are missing. After a search cannot find the missing items and with Erika’s mood becoming more frantic accusations are made against the visiting couple, heightening BJ. He then produces a gun and tells the couple to strip. Naked, the couple take an opportunity to run and lock themselves in the adjoining hottub/bathroom. BJ goes to Erika and asks what she wanted him to do with Geney and Joshua. Erika thinks about it and tells BJ to just do it “Just fucking do it,”. Even after BJ finds out about the 911 call made before the call to Snake Guy he seems to have an epiphany. “I’m just going to fucking waste them, cool?”. He is smiling.

Observation: I theorise that BJ hid the drugs and jewels on purpose to heighten Erika who has anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. I also believe that getting Erika into a murderous rage was a way for BJ to ramp himself. Ramping is a term that my co-parent and I used for my lariam derangement. Why would BJ want to ramp himself? Because it is better than cocaine.

BJ then fires one or two shots through the door, wounding Josh, most likely in the arm. Erika might have even directed fire. Then BJ kicks open the door and executes Josh with a bullet to his head. He then hands the gun to Erika who walks over to the cowering Geney and fires the pistol. She misses, either by design or by mistake as the bullet goes through the wall into the next room. Pulling out her knife she proceeds to stab Geney in the stomach. Before her arrest in five days she will get a tattoo of a cobra on the spot where she first cut Geney. A trophy for her husband who approved.

Observation: Only two people really know what happened in that room in those moments but I’d note that Detective Bernal, one of the lead investigators, made the observation during BJs trial that there was ‘no blood on the carpet’. Everything was contained to one kill-room. I suspect this was not BJs first kill although it might have been Erika’s. In fact, BJ might have been blooding Erika by letting her kill a ‘PUC’ otherwise known as a Person Under Control. In BJs time we called PUCs by an older term, a Prisoner of War (POW). In fact, I think he fired the shot into the wall.

Last one. Erika then goes out to get cleaning supplies. In the Forensic Files version she returns to find BJ in the hot-tub with the decapitated heads of Josh and Geney floating and throws the coup de grace bullet to Erika as a trophy. In another version she enters the bathroom to find BJ completing an act of necrophilia. By his own admission BJ then cut the bodies into six separate pieces and removed them from the premises without leaving evidence. What ever post mortem atrocities happened in that room there was not one trace outside of that room.

Last Observation: Random victims (disorganised). A contained kill-room (organised). Alleged necrophilia (disorganised). An almost seamless disposal of two bodies, literally the hardest thing to do (organised). BJ was a mixed serial killer or working on becoming one. Thankfully, a combination of too much alcohol and Xanax by the perpetrators, good police work in Ocean City and a lot of good fortune got in the way of a deadly murder spree.

Medical/MH Note: My opinion is not based on a medical nor mental health background. Just a lived experience former Digger trying to raise awareness on Quinism. Remember, PTSD wasn’t a thing until it was.

Final Note: Even before the murders BJ was acting out of character, certainly criminally and even psychotically, when the occasion demanded. Yet BJs actions on that Memorial Day weekend points to a much darker diagnosis. One that doesn’t exist anymore.

I actually believe that BJ might be a paranoid schizophrenic.

You might already know of a famous cartoon character that suffers from that affliction. The Joker. Erika was his muse. In fact, I think a combination of horniness and laziness saved Karen Wilson and her drunken friend a few days later when they found themselves in an identical situation to Josh and Geney in Room 1101. After luring the pair into the Condo and with Erika’s items missing again, BJ starts to ramp and even pulls out his gun again. This time however, the items are found and BJ and Erika are getting amorous on the couch. Also, cleaning up a room after murder is hard work and expensive.

Although some may scoff at such a suggestion the Department of Veteran Affairs (Australia) considers both Bi-Polar Disorder and Schizophrenia as accepted conditions of mefloquine toxicity. Not that much of a jump to paranoid schizophrenia, surely?

*****

Final, Final Note: M. William Phelps was reached for comment prior to the blog.

Bibliography

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee, Australian Senate. Use of the Quinoline anti-malarial drugs Mefloquine and Tafenoquine in the Australian Defence Force. Submission 73. Dr Jane Quinn. Published 2018.

Forensic Files. (2009). Dirty Little Seacret. Season 13, Episode 47. https://www.forensicfiles.com/dirty-little-seacret/#

Marriot, A. (2022). If you wake at Midnight: The Lariam wonder drug scandal. Austin Macauley Publishers, London, UK.

Murderpedia. Erika Elaine Sifrit. Accessed 25.05.23. https://murderpedia.org/female.S/s/sifrit-erika.htm

Natural Born Killers. (1994). Warner Brothers, Burbank, CA, United States.

Ohwovoriole, T. Very Well Mind. What Is the Prodromal Phase in Schizophrenia? Updated 13.02.2022. https://www.verywellmind.com/the-prodromal-phase-in-schizophrenia-5203945

Phelps, M. William. (2009). Cruel Death. Kensington Publishing, New York City, USA.

Repatriation Medical Authority, Australian Government. SOPs matching factor Mefloquine. Last modified 2023. http://www.rma.gov.au/sops/search?Number=&Year=&Condition=&Factor=Mefloquine

Wikipedia. Erika and Benjamin Sifrit. Accessed 25.05.23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erika_and_Benjamin_Sifrit

Wikipedia. Quinism. Accessed 25.05.23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinism

Wikipedia. Serial Killer. Accessed 25.05.23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer

*****

Documents

*****

US Navy SEALs travel to far off locations, even malarial zones, to dive and blow shit up. Here is me with CDT One (the Australian version) blowing shit up in a far off location, although in this case, not a malarial zone. I didn’t recover this memory via a photo, I literally carry a knife wound from that trip. It gives me a giggle everytime I see it.

*****

Bea Coldwell discovers that her husband is most likely suffering from periods of Lariam derangement after being posted to Sierra Leone and prescribed mefloquine in 2007.

3 Comments

May 13, 2023

62. Mefloquine Dispatches: Lachlan ‘Marty’ Martin, 14th May 1996

And if I only could, I’d make a deal with God, And I’d get Him to swap our places

Be runnin’ up that road, Be runnin’ up that hill, Be runnin’ up that building

Say, if I only could, oh.

Kate Bush (1985)

Background:

Was Marty the first Special Forces soldier to inadvertantely die from his mefloquine exposure? We probably won’t ever know…

*****

It is 2019. Winter hasn’t quite arrived yet and I’ve recently been released from hospital. I sit in my cabin and stare at my computer. I am somewhat shell-shocked.

A knock at the door. D*, still technically my Brother-In-Law smiles through the fly-screen. A veteran whom I served with. He has heard via family channels that I’m in a bad way.

“What the fuck happened to you”? he asks.

“I think they really fucked us both, D*” I reply. I’ve been sober for almost two years by this stage so I ‘smash’ the kettle and we move outside for a yarn.

I start to go through my memory recall. I ask him about the incident in the Tarawa when our troop sergeant almost got killed. He laughs. He was sitting next to me on a Humvee when it happened. Apparently, we both shit ourselves when we saw that wave coming through the bay doors.

Ok, what about the incident at the pub in Perth, did that happen? Yes… Greenpeace? Yes…

We pause. “You know that after Somalia you were never right?” I state. “Did I tell you F* came at me in a train about a decade ago, wanting my heart. Looked like a fucking skeleton. I had one of the kids with me. As soon as those train doors opened I ran with him in under my arm. I was pretty sure he was screaming at me from the train doors”.

D* sits on that for awhile as we drink our coffee. “You know F* is dead, right?”.

“No.” I sit on that for a bit. “Was it his heart. He was screaming at me about wanting my heart”.

“Yes, heart transplant. Didn’t you read the Courier Mail piece”. I shake my head.

“I don’t think we just die from suicide, D*”. I explain about the time I went into ER a few months back and my Doctor (another veteran) checked my heart first. At the time it didn’t make sense.

D* guides me back to suicide. He asks if I’m OK? He is a bit concerned.

I start to go through a couple of other memories. One I lost due to amnesia (finally diagnosed in 2021) and two I remembered but hadn’t really talked about. The first two incidents are not quite suicide attempts. I call it letting go. The last memory was my only suicide attempt in 2014. I recall them in reverse order. Suicide, my crazy Parachute jump (1999) and finally the Angel jump (1997).

I’m doing an Angel jump demonstration for the Squadron in late 97. I’ve done this scores of times (it was kind of my thing at the time). Everything was setup as normal but my hands couldn’t stop trembling as I dealt with the ropes and equipment. I had been busy on courses and was out of practice but the shaking was new and troubling. I go through with the jump and my hand doesn’t quite catch the rope or I let go (I’m not sure). I think ‘fuck it’, I’m going to die. Good way to go. My belayer, SGT J*, catches me and I snap out of it and descend. He immediately questioned me as to what went wrong. I use my ‘reasonable excuse’ line (my hand had been cut in half some years before so it has never quite worked 100% since). I never completed another Angel jump after that one.

D* sits on that for a minute. “When do you reckon you got the tremors”? he asks.

“Straight after mefloquine D*, I gave up rock-climbing and judo pretty much after I got it. My body just didn’t work after taking that shit and the tremors just weirded me out”.

Then he tells me something I probably knew but lost.

“Did Marty tell you he had tremors and was struggling on the technical side of his HALO jump”.

“No, but he might have, my memory is shit” (due to my as yet undiagnosed amnesia).

D* continues. “He told T* and I just before he died. We told WO2 V* at Marty’s funeral that he was struggling with his motor skills around the HALO jump. T* even baled him up about it. V* promised that it would be looked into it”. (Note T* is the wife of D*).

Now I pause. “I can’t remember V* but he would have passed it on. Which means the Regiment knew but didn’t give a shit or just covered it up. Get this, Lariam was banned by Special Forces in the US awhile back”.

“Why?”, asks D*.

“Not sure but I reckon it might be the US saw a drop in shooting standards once they took that mefloquine shit. That’s all that the Ruperts care about. Apparently it can cause vertigo and even epilipsy. I’ll have to look into that at some stage.”

“So you reckon mefloquine might have killed Marty too”? asked D*.

“I know it has killed a lot of us. Sent others insane. Who knows about Marty. The Regiment didn’t even investigate his death by the sounds of it.”

*****

Marty knew he had a problem and despite that knowledge he still jumped. That is bravery.

To the Lost, Brother.

*****

Name: Lachlan ‘Marty’ Martin

Rank/Occupation: Signalman, 152 Signal Squadron, SASR, Australian Army.

Deceased: 14^th May 1996 (aged: 23). Bindoon, Western Australia, Australia.

NOK: Marty’s Mum.

Exposure to Anti-Quinolines: Highly likely the Advance Party for Operation Solace (1992/93) received mefloquine prior to airlift until they synched in with the doxycycline program that was administered in-country. Possible exposure to Mefloquine during his 1990s service (i.e. the Tully Jungle Warfare Centre utilised ‘what ever was on the shelf’). Marty completed a stint as DS staff at the Tully Jungle Warfare Centre prior to posting to the SASR.

Conditions witnessed/documented that relate to Quinism: Possible toxic vestibulopathy. Was concerned about shaking/tremors prior to HALO jump. Possible suicide ideation.

Confounding Factors: Fear.

Cause of Death: Parachute accident.

*****

OPINION: Mefloquine damages the brain in unique ways. It also damages the inner ear which causes a range of issues including dizziness, disequilibrium, vision issues, vertigo and I suspect tremors. The disease is called toxic vestibulopathy. An excerpt from the Department of Veterans Affairs:

Brief description

Toxic vestibulopathy is damage to the vestibular organs of the inner ear or the vestibular nerve as a result of exposure to a chemical agent, and resulting in clinical manifestations (symptoms and signs). Symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, vertigo, dizziness, disequilibrium, nystagmus (eye jerking), and oscillopsia (blurred vision with head movement).

Clinical onset

The assessment of clinical onset begins with the confirmed diagnosis, then goes back in time to the first onset of reliable clinical symptoms and signs following the chemical exposure.

Clinical worsening

The usual course for toxic vestibulopathy is to improve or persist but not worsen unless there is ongoing exposure to the chemcial agent.

Dr Remington Nevin wrote the definitive piece on mefloquine and suicide and suicide ideation in 2013. Via the Huffington Post. Mefloquine: The Military’s Suicide Pill. Excerpt:

In late July, 2013, the FDA issued a powerful “black box” safety warning for a drug which has been taken by hundreds of thousands of troops to prevent malaria. The drug is called mefloquine, and it was previously sold in the U.S. by F. Hoffman-La Roche under the trade name Lariam. Since being developed by the U.S. military over four decades ago, mefloquine has been widely used by troops on deployments in Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan.

We now recognize, decades too late, that mefloquine is neurotoxic and can cause lasting injury to the brainstem and emotional centers in the limbic system. As a result of its toxic effects, the drug is quickly becoming the “Agent Orange” of this generation, linked to a growing list of lasting neurological and psychiatric problems including suicide.

The public had its first glimpse of the mefloquine suicide problem over a decade ago in 2002, when a cluster of murder-suicides occurred among Ft. Bragg soldiers returning home from deployment. All three soldiers had been taking mefloquine, yet an official Army investigation later concluded mefloquine was “unlikely to be the cause of this clustering.” The Army Surgeon General even testified to Congress there was “absolutely no statistical correlation between Lariam use and those murder suicides.” The next year, in 2003, a spike in suicides in the early months of the Iraq war was linked in media reports to widespread use of mefloquine; in response, the U.S. Army promised a study “to dispel Lariam suicide myths.” Yet when mefloquine use was halted in Iraq in 2004, the active duty Army suicide rate fell precipitously.

FOI to the ADF (request sent 13.05.2023)

This is a request for the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 for access to the following documents:

I’d like specific access to the official investigation into the death of Signalman Lachlan ‘Marty’ Martin.

I know how Marty died. No one wants to rehash that.

I’m specifically after any reference to anti-quinolines in that investigation. There should be something. Tremors were raised by concerned soldiers and their spouses and no follow-up was ever conducted by either the ADF or HQSF. Marty deployed in the Advance Party of Operation Solace, when the SOPs stated you were to take mefloquine on short deployments to malarial zones. He might have even taken mefloquine as part of Directing Staff at the Jungle Warfare Centre, Tully.

If there wasn’t an investigation, why not?

Should you have any questions in relation to this request, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

For your review and consideration.

Final Note: Permission was given by D* & T* to publish both conversations which occurred in 2019 and 2022.

*****

Bibliography

Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Australian Government. Toxic vestibulopathy F098. Accessed 13.05.2023. https://clik.dva.gov.au/sop-information/sops-and-supporting-information-alphabetic-listing/q-z/toxic-vestibulopathy-f098

Huffington Post. Mefloquine: The Military’s Suicide Pill. Published 25.09.2013. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mefloquine-the-militarys_b_3989034

Kate Bush. (1985). Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God). Kent, UK. EMI Records. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM

Repatriation Medical Authority, Australian Government. SOPs matching factor Mefloquine. Last modified 2023. http://www.rma.gov.au/sops/search?Number=&Year=&Condition=&Factor=Mefloquine

*****

Documents

My daughter printed out a photo of Marty and put it on the family fridge. “So you won’t forget him again, Father”. Marty is pictured covering my arse (again) while he was teaching me how to drive. He was a good teacher, I was just a shit driver. Cowley Beach, 1993

*****

1 Comment

May 10, 2023

Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide – Statistics, 2023

Lots of data. Lots of questions. I thought I would trawl through some of it. Last updated 30^th May 2023.

9^th May 2023: Newsletter, Edition 17. Private Sessions

This was interesting.

*****

Note: A chart would be a bit wasted as there are only three key data points. Let us look at those in detail:

Of the 1,141 requests for private sessions by individuals, 159, or approximately 14% were considered ineligible. That is 159 people that were refused a private session without any explanation what would be considered an ‘ineligible request’.
- Response: Eligibility for private sessions is limited to defence members and veterans who have lived experience of suicide behaviour or risk factors (including attempted or contemplated suicide, feelings of suicide or poor mental health outcomes). Those who are eligible can also be family members of defence members and veterans who have died by suicide, or who have supported a defence member or veteran with lived experience of suicide behaviour or risk factors. Those who are ineligible for a private session are still invited to make a submission, and we provide support to do so.
Of the 982 eligible requests, the Royal Commission has conducted 439 private sessions which equates to 44.7% of the total requirement. Not sure how they are going to conduct the remaining 543. Will be interesting to review this statistic early next year.
- Response: Regarding refusals, ineligible requests have been received by professionals and organisations who support or have supported serving or ex-serving ADF members. We have also received ineligible requests from friends and colleagues of serving and ex-serving members, who wished to tell us their perspective on the experiences of the person they know. This information is also available on page 19 of the Commission’s Interim Report.

Bibliography

Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Australian Government. Email, RE: Ineligible Requests for Private Sessions. Received 10.05.2023.

Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, Australian Government. Newsletter, Edition 17. Published 9.05.2023.

May 9, 2023

61. Mefloquine Dispatches: Chris Stiles, 3rd August 2016

Background: As I started to research mefloquine in early 2019, the first name that came up in my online search was Chris Stiles. To the Lost.

*****

Name: Chris Stiles (rank: NCO, 1 RAR, Australian Army)

Deceased: 3^rd August 2016 (aged: TBC). Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

NOK: Lisa Alward (Sister).

Exposure to Anti-Quinolines: Confirmed participant of the controversial Tafenoquine & Mefloquine drug trials during his deployment to East Timor (INTERFET) in 1999-2000. Townsville Bulletin suggests he was prescribed mefloquine. Possible exposure to Mefloquine during his 1990s service (i.e. the Tully Jungle Warfare Centre utilised ‘what ever was on the shelf’). Discharged 2006.

Conditions witnessed/documented that relate to Quinism: Mental health issues linked to quinoline exposure. Suicide.

Confounding Factors: Possible PTSD.

Cause of Death: Suicide.

*****

OPINION: Dr Remington Nevin wrote the definitive piece on mefloquine and suicide in 2013. Via the Huffington Post. Mefloquine: The Military’s Suicide Pill. Excerpt:

Lisa Alward reported that Chris had been exposed to traumatic events including the death of a ‘mate’ who was killed in a grenade incident (as I write that sentence I have also triggered a new memory). Quinism is commonly misdiagnosed as PTSD or Depression. Evidence given at the 2018 at the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee inquiry into anti-quinoline use raises concerns about misdiagnosis. Excerpt from Page 9:

1.26 On 25 July 2018 the House of Commons Defence Committee presented a report on Mental Health and the Armed Forces, Part One: The scale of mental health issues. The report notes there is a lack of research into the mental health effects of physical exposure to factors such as neurotoxicity or mild traumatic brain injury:

An example is the antimalarial drug Lariam, or Mefloquine, where our predecessor Committee found that a minority of those who used it suffered serious mental health issues. Such side effects were known to occur, yet the Ministry of Defence did not take the appropriate steps to minimise the risks to those whom it prescribed the drug. A number of witnesses have suggested that other drugs being prescribed by the Armed Forces may be having similar effects but that the current lack of research and data over neurotoxicity and its potential mental health effects may be resulting in cases being missed or being misdiagnosed, for example as PTSD.

Special Note: A failure of the Townsville Bulletin to fact check their story. Given it involved the death of a veteran you would have thought they might have done some rudimentary journalism.

Lisa Alwards’ story published 21.08.2016 via The Daily Telegraph. Veteran suicides: ‘Let my brother be the last’. Excerpt with key point highlighted:

THE grieving sister of the 41st veteran known to have died by suicide this year has made an emotional plea to Australia: “Please, let my brother be the last”.

By the time East Timor veteran Chris Stiles took his own life, on August 3, he had lost his job, his family and his home. His Canberra-based sister, Lisa Alward, said a warning to the Australian Defence Force in March that her brother was at high risk of self-harm went unheeded.

“He should have been on their radar. But they did not help him,” Mrs Alward said. “I pleaded with the authorities to step up to this challenge, listen to this message that our veterans are suffering and need help and make my brother the last one.”

A tone deaf Air Vice Marshall Tracy Smart published almost a month later (17.09.2016) via the Townsville Bulletin. Australian Defence Force’s top-ranking medical officer Tracy Smart speaks candidly about controversial antimalarial drug trials. Excerpt with key point highlighted:

Christopher Stiles, a veteran of East Timor who the Bulletin understands was prescribed mefloquine in the drug trials, died in Townsville in August after taking his own life.

The Bulletin understands Defence records show he did not report any adverse effects during the study, nor did he present with any psychological concerns during service, and at the time of discharge in 2006, he was considered fully fit for service.

But Mr Stiles told of his struggle to seek adequate medical help after leaving the Army at the forum and his death has since been linked to his participation in the trial.

AVM Smart said she was aware Mr Stiles has attended the event but that he didn’t “specifically reach out for help”.

“Whenever any of us hear about the suicide of any Defence member it is a blow,” she said. “In terms of the forum, I understand he was there, obviously there were a lot of people there. “He certainly didn’t come up personally and ask me for help and in fact he didn’t contact us after the forum.”

His Sister reached out in March. The ADF should have reported Lisa’s concerns to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ for follow-up. This should have been known by the AVM. The AVM chose to blame the victim instead.

*****

Bibliography

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Defence force admits soldier shouldn’t have been included in East Timor anti-malaria drug trial. Published 22.08.2016. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-22/adf-admits-soldier-should-have-been-excluded-anti-malaria-test/7772322

Huffington Post. Mefloquine: The Military’s Suicide Pill. Published 25.09.2013. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/mefloquine-the-militarys_b_3989034

Marriott, A. (2022). If you wake at midnight. London, UK. Austin, Macauley.

Repatriation Medical Authority, Australian Government. SOPs matching factor Mefloquine. Last modified 2023. http://www.rma.gov.au/sops/search?Number=&Year=&Condition=&Factor=Mefloquine

The Daily Telegraph. Veteran suicides: ‘Let my brother be the last’. Published 21.08.2016. https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/veteran-suicides-let-my-brother-be-the-last/news-story/2c172fda684d925e977cd250b37b14b3

Townsville Bulletin. Losing battle for help with mental illness. Published 16.08.2016. https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/losing-battle-for-help-with-mental-illness/news-story/be1927503f2568fad54d5807fa6d8724

Townsville Bulletin. Australian Defence Force’s top-ranking medical officer Tracy Smart speaks candidly about controversial antimalarial drug trials. Published 17.09.2016. https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/news/australian-defence-forces-topranking-medical-officer-tracy-smart-speaks-candidly-about-controversial-antimalarial-drug-trials/news-story/f0c8dd8fa54fac8556b0b9fd62e32950

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May 1, 2023

60. Mefloquine Dispatches: Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones, 27th April 2023

Background: I read the article and didn’t make the connection but a colleague reached out and asked “Is this mefloquine”? So I reread the article. Via The Guardian. Australian man arrested in Indonesia says he felt ‘almost possessed’ during naked rampage. Excerpt:

Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones says he was not himself and felt “almost possessed” during an alleged drunken naked rampage that led to his arrest on an Indonesian island.

The 23-year-old Australian faces up to five years in jail if convicted over the alleged incident on Thursday on Simeulue, within the conservative Aceh province off the coast of Sumatra.

Risby-Jones allegedly emerged without any clothes from Moon Beach Resort and proceeded to chase and strike people on the main village road, according to the Aceh media outlet Bithe.

Shortly before 1am the Noosa man abused a fisherman from the village of Lantik, who suffered serious injuries requiring more than 50 stitches on his heel as well as fractures, Indonesian police told the publication in a written statement.

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Name: Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones

Occupation: Carpenter/Tourist

Incident Details: 27^th April 2023 (aged: 23). Simeulue, Aceh, Indonesia.

NOK: N/A.

Exposure to Anti-Quinolines: To be confirmed.

Conditions witnessed/documented that relate to Quinism: Prodromal symptoms including mania, violence and disassociation. Instant regret after the incident. No documented history of violence.

Confounding Factors: Alcohol (admitted to consuming one vodka prior to the incident). Sunstroke reported the day prior. Was in Aceh to surf because he was ‘depressed’.

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OPINION: When I reread this article a couple of points jumped out to me which lead me to question what anti-malarials Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones received. Note: Mefloquine has not been confirmed as at 1^st May 2023.

Bodhi Mani Risby-Jones reportedly felt like he was ‘possessed’ when he went on his rampage in Aceh. As he walked from Moon Beach Resort after striking a security guard he would chase and strike people on the main village road. He would eventually knock a local fisherman off his bike and then throw the motorbike on top of the local who would end up hospitalised with 50-stitches and a broken leg.

Prodromal symptoms including psychotic behaviour are an early warning sign of mefloquine toxicity . Dr. Jane Quinn explained the literature already available on this subject during her 2018 testimony into the Use of the Quinoline anti-malarial drugs Mefloquine and Tafenoquine in the Australian Defence Force. Excerpt from Submission 73:

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The Daily Mail article that followed up the original story stated that according ‘to Simeulue police chief detective Mayyuhdi, Risby-Jones was on the surfing trip because ‘he was depressed’. Mefloquine should not be used for people with any mental health issues. The current Center for Disease Control (CDC, USA) fact sheet for Mefloquine states:

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One of the biggest surprises is how easily it is to access mefloquine in Australia. My brother just got offerred it for a trip to Nepal in 2023! I’m unsure of the recent usage of mefloquine but the most recent data still shows more than 8,000 Australians used it in 2017.

Final note: I’m sure we will hear more about this case but I’d be suggesting to the family to check Bodhi Mani’s anti-quinoline history.

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Bibliography

Center for Disease Control, United States of American Government. Medicines for the Prevention of Malaria While Traveling: Mefloquine. Accessed 1.05.2023. https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/resources/pdf/fsp/drugs/mefloquine.pdf

Daily Mail. Twist in case of Aussie surfer accused of drunken naked rampage in Indonesia as he faces years in jail. Published 1.05.2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12031807/Bodhi-Mani-Risby-Jones-Goat-slaughter-twist-case-Aussie-accused-drunken-Indonesian-rampage.html

Defence Health, Department of Defence, Australian Government. Mefloquine. Accessed 1.05.2023. https://www.defence.gov.au/adf-members-families/health-well-being/services-support-fighting-fit/malaria-mefloquine-adf/malaria/mefloquine

The Guardian. Australian man arrested in Indonesia says he felt ‘almost possessed’ during naked rampage. Published 29.04.2023. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/29/australian-man-arrested-in-indonesia-says-he-felt-almost-possessed-during-naked-rampage

https://www.dva.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/health%20and%20wellbeing/mefloquine-and-tafenoquine-information-paper.pdf

Marriott, A. (2022). If you wake at midnight. London, UK. Austin, Macauley.

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April 20, 2023

59. Mefloquine Dispatches: SGT Leanne List, 1998

It is late 1998 and the Army is hunting me.

Not for the crimes that I will plead guilty to, many years later. The crime they hunt me for is embarrassing the Army. I read my old SCMA records and I laugh.

The memory comes back about how I walked out of Signal Platoon with my Sulla face and the CSM came out of BHQ, took one look at me and walked back into BHQ. I might have even screamed and pointed at him. He looked comical in his neck brace.

In 1998 the Army doesn’t know what Quinism or lariam derangement is. PTSD wasn’t even on the radar. No one talked about mental health.

My Quinism comes with acute paranoia. The phone starts ringing almost straight away and won’t stop. When the uniforms knock on my door I don’t answer but I’m ready. They go away. I reach out. If I see another uniform I’ll meet them with knives. I don’t get another knock.

I have a go-kit. Basics. Webbing. Blades. Black hat with its dagger. Need to get rid of it. Don’t know why I do things but I cache things every couple of years. This is just the first time.

The coast is clear so I pack the locked half-trunk in Harley’s car and drive over to my last Sergeants place. She lives in a flat with her partner. My memory is not clear here but I rush to explain things to her. Can she look after my trunk? She agrees. She was a good Egg.

I think that was the last time I saw Sergeant Leanne List.

Not sure.

P.S

Leanne,

When I got back a big tranche of memories in 2018/19 I did try to find you but it was all so long ago and I’m not sure you are even alive. Getting new stuff after reading some recently redacted files. I’ll post this out via the RAAOC network in the hope you are well. If you are, I’d love to chat but no expectation. I can be reached via the Gympie Sub-Branch. Just leave a message and a number and I’ll reach out.

Shane

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April 19, 2023

58. Mefloquine Dispatches: Paul ‘Dusty’ Miller, 16th April 2023

Background: As soon as I caught this story via ABC I made the comment. “I bet you he was an East Timor veteran”. Via the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Tributes flow for SA father and veteran Paul Miller who died during Kokoda Track walk.

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Name: Paul ‘Dusty’ Miller (rank: Unknown, Australian Army)

Deceased: 16^th April 2023 (aged: 48). Kokoda Track, PNG.

NOK: Amanda (Wife). Sarah, Sabrina, Hayley, Aaron and Amy (who passed aged 12).

Exposure to Anti-Quinolines: Highly probable that he received either Tafenoquine or Mefloquine as part of the controversial drug trials during his deployment to East Timor (INTERFET) in 1999-2000. Possible exposure to Mefloquine during his 1990s service (i.e. the Tully Jungle Warfare Centre utilised ‘what ever was on the shelf’). Also deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Discharged 2014.

Conditions witnessed/documented that relate to Quinism: Heart Attack. Retired due to mental health-related issues.

Confounding Factors: Age. Heart issues are currenly not covered due to Tafenoquine exposure. Also, the Kokoda track is an extremely hard 96km trek through rugged jungle and mountains.

Cause of Death: Suspected Heart Attack.

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OPINION: When I first walked into an emergency room in early 2019 stating I had been exposed to Mefloquine in 1997, the Doctor, who was a Combat Veteran who deployed to East Timor in 2006 didn’t immediately ask me about my mental health. He first checked my heart which I thought was strange at the time. Turns out a lot of us die from heart issues.

According to first reports Paul suffered a heart attack while walking the Kokoda Track. I only had two Sergeants who were exposed to either Mefloquine or Tafenoquine (or a combination of the two drugs). Both died either of heart attacks or heart related issues in their 40’s. Heart block is a recognised condition from exposure to Mefloquine. The ADF does not recognise heart issues due to Tafenoquine exposure but no longitudinal studies have been completed since the trials finalised in the early 2000s. The ADF has spent an enormous amount of energy trying to convince everyone Tafenoquine is safer than Mefloquine without conducting proper studies into the long-term effects.

It should be noted that one of the key study technicians of Mefloquine (WR 142 490) was Nathan Leopold who suffered two heart attacks during the Stateville prison experiments and died of heart failure in 1971.

The ABC reported that ‘Mr Miller retired due to mental health-related issues’. Quinism is commonly misdiagnosed as PTSD or Depression. Evidence given at the 2018 at the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee inquiry into anti-quinoline use raises concerns about misdiagnosis. Excerpt from Page 9:

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Bibliography

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Australian man dies while hiking Kokoda Track. Published 16.04.2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-17/australian-dies-while-hiking-kokoda-track/102233018

Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Tributes flow for SA father and veteran Paul Miller who died during Kokoda Track walk. Published 18.04.2023. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-18/veteran-paul-miller-confirmed-as-kokoda-track-victim/102238292

Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Australian Government. Information paper: mefloquine and tafenoquine. Published 2019. https://www.dva.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/health%20and%20wellbeing/mefloquine-and-tafenoquine-information-paper.pdf

Marriott, A. (2022). If you wake at midnight. London, UK. Austin, Macauley.

Repatriation Medical Authority, Australian Government. SOPs matching factor Mefloquine. Last modified 2023. http://www.rma.gov.au/sops/search?Number=&Year=&Condition=&Factor=Mefloquine

Wikipedia. Leopold and Loeb. Accessed 19.04.2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_and_Loeb

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April 14, 2023

57. Mefloquine Dispatches: Catch and Kill, 30th March 2023 (Final)

The top story for the latest Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide newsletter is an interesting one. The Royal Commissions Amendment (Enhancing Engagement) Regulations 2023 was signed off by General David Hurley (Ret) on the 30^th March without much fanfare. It’s a fancy title for something known more simply as ‘Catch and Kill’.

The Royal Commission explains.

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To make sense of this legislation you need to understand what happened to former Playboy model, Karen McDougal. Here is a suggested piece via The Guardian. Prosecutors try to connect hush money scheme to other alleged Trump affairs. Excerpt:

The release of Donald Trump’s indictment on Tuesday confirmed the news that the 34 felony counts against the former president involved hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, the adult film star. But prosecutors also tried to connect that scheme to other extramarital affairs, including Trump’s alleged relationship with former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

As the Wall Street Journal first reported in 2016, the parent company of the National Enquirer, which endorsed Trump’s first presidential bid, agreed to pay McDougal $150,000 for her story about an alleged affair with Trump beginning in 2006. But the tabloid ultimately did not publish McDougal’s account, effectively quashing the story in an industry tactic known as “catch and kill”.

Make of that, what you will…

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April 10, 2023

56. Mefloquine Dispatches: Bryan Brown-Easley, 7th July 2017

Background: I just watched the movie ‘Breaking’ (2022) which has just become available to rent. I followed up by reading a few stories but settled on the Task & Purpose article written in 2018 which is the most detailed. One of the clearest examples of Lariam derangement (Quinism) I have seen. I’m stunned that no one has picked it up.

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Name: Bryan Brown-Easley or Bryan Easley (rank: Lance Corporal, USMC)

Deceased: 7^th July 2017 (aged: 33). Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

NOK: Jessica (Wife). Jayla (Daughter)

Exposure to Anti-Quinolines: Possibly mefloquine as part of 2nd Marine Logistics Group deployment to Kuwait (2003) and then again mefloquine as part of his deployment to Al-Anbar, Iraq (2005).

Conditions witnessed/documented that relate to Quinism: Lariam derangement, Paranoia and Schizophrenia.

Confounding Factors: PTSD (diagnosed). Misdiagnosis. Incredibly poor treatment by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Poverty.

Cause of Death: Killed by a police sniper.

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OPINION: I’ll start controversially. The screen poster likens this movie to Dog Day Afternoon. DDA was a completely shit movie but groundbreaking in its own way. Breaking could have been an amazing movie but it completely misses the point. That said, it might be the first movie to document Lariam derangement on screen.

The treatment by the USA Department of Veterans Affairs is both disgusting and noteworthy. About to be made homeless and obviously upset at his treatment he ‘kicks-off’ in the VA office. It must have been bad because they end up hand-cuffing him and putting him on the street. In the movie no one even comes to his aid (not surprising). As he walks into the Wells Fargo bank he is still battered from that experience and his face is noticeably grazed.

According to all reports, Bryan Brown-Easley suffered from PTSD and Schizophrenia post service. Schizophrenia is usually diagnosed in the young or those with problematic upbringings. According to T&P he had quite a happy childhood and the recruiters would have picked up this type of condition as part of the endless medicals you complete before joining.

Lariam derangement can come at anytime. Homelessness and desperation can overload your executive function on a brain already damaged by Lariam. You can still operate while being insane, even be highly functional as is the case with Bryan for parts of the siege. Bryan jokes that he might be the worst bank robber in history and from entry to his death the entire plan is not well executed (lack of training), sloppy (the toilet break) and overly polite (he is not a killer). Rather than save him this will eventually get him killed.

His clear paranoia is shown in the movie (‘my brother has put four hits out on me’). It is something a lot of us suffer but Bryan seems to have it really bad.

Medical/MH Note: My opinion is not based on a medical nor mental health background. Just a lived experience former Digger trying to raise awareness on Quinism. PTSD wasn’t a thing until it was.

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Bibliography

Breaking (originally movie titled 892). (2022). Bleeker Street, USA.

Maclean, D.S. (2014). The answer to the riddle is me: A memoir of Amnesia. Boston, USA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Marriott, A. (2022). If you wake at midnight. London, UK. Austin, Macauley.

Repatriation Medical Authority, Australian Government. SOPs matching factor Mefloquine Last modified 2023. http://www.rma.gov.au/sops/search?Number=&Year=&Condition=&Factor=Mefloquine

Task & Purpose. ‘They didn’t have to kill him’: The death of Lance Corporal Brian Easley. Published 9.04.2018. https://taskandpurpose.com/news/death-lance-corporal-brian-easley/

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April 7, 2023

55. Mefloquine Dispatches: The Panopticon, 1995

I did something stupid to wind up in The Panopticon. One of the soldiers who ‘served under sentence’ with me would take his own life. He did three months. He was a champion bloke who would show the new guys the ropes (so to speak). To the Lost.

The funny thing is, The Panopticon had the opposite effect on me. Sure, it was bad but it straightened me out and I became, if only briefly, the best soldier I was going to be.

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It is winter, 1995. I am scrubbing a shitter. To be honest, it is pretty clean. The only people who clean the toilets are ‘soldiers under sentence’. Always think about the soldier behind you.

In The Panopticon the only voices you hear are orders. Screamed orders, barked orders, neutral orders, cold orders, orders via hidden speakers. At anytime. Microphones so that you can reply to indirect orders. Unless you are responding to an order you can only speak at certain times a day.

All controlled at the central point. Glass windows. Someone always watching. The Panopticon sees all.

If you make it to Sunday you might get a game of volleyball where you can talk almost normally. MPs will be watching, might even be playing. You are outside of the wall though. I wonder if they had CCTV back then. I’m sure they do now.

Otherwise, The Panopticon is filled with silence. Which is good. If you have landed here you need to reflect on your life choices. I certainly did.

I was determined to get through the last couple of days and become the soldier I always wanted to be.

Back to scrubbing that shitter…

I don’t know exactly where the music came from but I suspect it was just over on the otherside of the wall. Perhaps two MPs listening quietly to their wireless while having a smoke break.

“Turn it up”, I hear. I can hear music. I haven’t heard music in weeks. After monastic silence and orders, order, orders the sound of music in The Panopticon is like the voice of God.

Music is not allowed in The Panopticon.

I am on hands and knees already so I monkey crawl over to the door. The MPs turn up the music and I can hear it clearly. The Panopticon might just be able to see me but I’m aware of where they are so I try not to profile myself. I can just see the sun. I shut my eyes.

In my other workplace at the time we played a game. Music would play as we typed. Name the singer, song and year. Bonus points for cheesy facts like what movie it was in, who they were married too.

Today the singer is Celine Dion, The Power of Love, 1993.

I let the moment soak in. Pure bliss…

https://open.spotify.com/track/5kK1Iru9ogP3Iy1zsANU1n?si=e0d8b20401144dff

Source: Spotify

It is a long song. According to Spotify it goes for 5 minutes and 42 seconds. As the song fades out I hear an order coming from the CPO who really ran The Panopticon.

“Turn that fucking shit off. If I can hear it, they can too”.

“Sorry, Sir”. Two different voices.

The music cuts off immediately.

I have my moment. Something they do not know. Something to get me through. I will treasure it. I might even smile at the MP who parades us in the early dawn on the next day. I’m first in line. I break the ice in the container so the Condies crystals soak into my freezing feet. We take turns to break the ice. Always think about the soldier behind you.

I made three commitments that day.

I will get out of The Panopticon;
I will never come back to this hell-site;
I will be the best soldier I can be from now on.

All three will become true.

Some soldiers are broken from their experience, some will use adversity to drive them.

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