Veteran: Anti-Malaria Drug Has Lasting Side Effects

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) _ A Minnesota Air National Guard veteran says he's still living with the side effects of an anti-malaria drug he took about eight years ago while deployed in Afghanistan.

Shawn Bolf was ordered to take mefloquine in 2010. Bolf says he now has balance and vision problems, loses feeling in his hands and feet, and has focus and sleep issues.

Bolf says Mayo Clinic doctors in Rochester told him in 2012 that he had mefloquine toxicity.

The U.S. Department of Defense issued a memorandum before Bolf's deployment warning about the drug's potential side effects. The memo also identified a different drug to be used instead.

An Air Force medical commander says the memorandum referenced how much medicine should be on-hand and wasn't a policy regarding ``usage by airmen.''