The Chief of Army has admitted more than 1300 troops who served in East Timor were given an anti-malarial drug with potentially devastating side effects.
It also has been revealed hundreds of our soldiers in Timor were used to test an unauthorised drug being developed by the US Army.
Troops were told the mystery drug would leave calcium deposits on their eyes but were assured these would "disappear after about six months".
Army chief Peter Leahy was forced to disclose the real number of troops used as guineapigs after it was revealed hundreds of them suffered depression and psychotic episodes as a result of taking Larium.
His account of the clinical trials conducted on 1351 soldiers directly contradicts that of the military's medical chief, Air Commodore Tony Austin, who said the number was in the "dozens rather than hundreds".
"All drugs have some side effects and no drug is risk-free but the risk of death from malaria is much greater than the risks associated with taking the anti-malarial drugs prescribed in the ADF," Lieutenant-General Leahy said in a signal sent to every member of the army last week.
He said the studies showed the soldiers from the 1RAR, 2RAR and 4RAR battalions suffered nothing more serious than "sleep disturbance".
He said the trials occurred in 2001, but the Sunday Mail has confirmed Larium was used on troops in East Timor from 1999 until 2003.
More than 250 current and former soldiers are suing the army for loss of income, mental trauma and family breakdown. It will be one of the biggest class actions against the military. Brisbane legal firm Quinn and Scattini also plans to begin a product liability suit in the US Supreme Court against the makers of Larium, pharmaceutical giant Roche.
Our troops also tested the unauthorised malaria drug Tafenoquine which left soldiers with calcium deposits in their eyes. The drug was not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and soldiers from the Townsville-based 1RAR battalion were told the research was being done on behalf of the US Army and health giant GlaxoSmithKline.
"We know from the examinations in the soldiers that deposits disappear after about six months," senior army medical officer Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Nasveld said in a letter to troops after the trials.
"We do not believe these deposits have any long-term effects on your eyes or your vision."
Army chiefs in Canberra said the trials were voluntary, but soldiers have described how they were ordered to take the drug or stay at home.
Private Jason Rule, who served in the 1RAR battalion in East Timor in 1999, said his army career was ruined by the Larium pill he took every week for six months.
"We were in no doubt if we didn't take the Larium we would not be going to East Timor," Mr Rule said.
"I had to get out because it was doing my head in. I have outbursts of anger, can't sleep and that sort of thing," he said.
His story was backed by fellow 1RAR Private Duncan Carter, who did two tours of East Timor in 2000 and 2003.
Mr Carter who left the army in March said he suffered anger problems, stomach disorders and long periods of paranoia.
"We have to speak out because the army is not going to address the problem unless it is forced to take responsibility," he said.