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"Wright, who is being held in the Cumberland County Jail in Fayetteville, N.C., talks of people trying to poison him, wakes up at night due to voices that appear real, and sometimes gets lost in a conversation, according to John Lown, who goes to the jail weekly on behalf of his Baptist church, which Wright also attended. 'He just seems paranoid. He alluded to some people who have given him something, like poison. He doesn't know if someone gave him something,' Lown told UPI Friday after visiting Wright this week. Lown is a former Green Beret medic who says Lariam has caused anger and erratic behavior in himself and other soldiers.

'He talks in circles,' Lown said of Wright, adding that he has 'a strange stare' and occasionally 'babbles.'

....Wright is accused of strangling his wife, Jennifer, in their Fayetteville home on June 29. Two other soldiers suspected in the string of killings also served in Afghanistan and also took Lariam, UPI reported in August. Those two soldiers killed themselves after killing their wives. Lariam's label also warns of reports of suicide. In a fourth case, a soldier who had not been deployed recently is charged with killing his estranged wife.

Lariam is used before, during and after going to a place where malaria is a risk. Mental problems have been reported to last long after a patient stops taking the drug. The Army -- which invented the drug and said it is safe -- has consistently said it has no reason to believe that Lariam played a role in the deaths.

....UPI has been conducting a six-month investigation of Lariam, known generically as mefloquine and manufactured by Swiss drug giant Hoffmann-La Roche. In May, UPI reported that mounting evidence suggests Lariam has caused such severe mental problems that in a small percentage of cases it has led to suicide. UPI also reported that scores of Peace Corps volunteers were coming forward describing a wide range of serious problems from long-term use of the drug. "

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