The serious side-effects of a popular anti-malaria medicine were listed on Wednesday in the trial of a man accused of murdering his lover with an axe.
Michael van Zyl, a BSc graduate, has pleaded not guilty before Judge Daniel Dlodlo to the murder of estate agent Andre Weitz, at the latter’s home at Thornton in Cape Town two years ago.
Dr Gert Muller, author of the textbook South African Medicines Formula and a lecturer in medicine at the University of Stellenbosch, testified at the request of defence counsel Justin van Rensburg.
Van Zyl earlier told the court he had planned a trip to a malaria-infested part of KwaZulu-Natal, and had taken Mefliam tablets a few days before the murder. He claims the medication had left him confused and unable to recall his attack on Weitz.
Muller told the court Mefliam is a schedule-four medicine, meaning it can only be obtained by doctor’s prescription, not over the counter.
He said most medicine packages include an ”insert” listing the dosage, what the medication is for and its side-effects.
Some of the side-effects are aggression, agitation, anxiety, confusion, convulsions, depression and infections of the brain. Others are forgetfulness, hallucinations, panic attacks, psychosis, paranoia and restlessness. Rare cases of suicide have also been reported.
He said the psychiatric side-effects, although less common, are serious. ”This is a medication that I do not prescribe any more for the prevention of malaria, due to the potentially severe side-effects.”
He said Mefliam is nevertheless popular in the tourist industry, among people visiting malaria areas.
As dangerous as the medication is, there is a strong tendency among pharmacists to supply it over the counter, ”because it’s inconvenient for tourists to have to first obtain a prescription for it”.
Questioned by prosecutor Quinton Appels, Muller said his expertise is to advise doctors on the use of medicines. The mental effects of medicines is the expertise of pathologists.
He agreed there is a difference between forgetting and memory loss. Muller said he is reluctant to commit himself on the possibility of memory loss as a side-effect, because this is not mentioned prominently in the insert.
The hearing continues on Thursday. — Sapa