March 23, 1998

Mr. Denis Desautels
Auditor General of Canada
240 Sparks Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

Dear Auditor General:

On November 20, 1997 I recommended that your audit of the Department of Health's Health Protection Branch (HPB) include an audit of the handling of mefloquine.

Today I want to bring to your attention another document associated with the mefloquine affair at HPB. I received this July 1993 letter under Access to Information.

The letter indicates that the neuropsychiatric effects that had been observed in the military earlier in 1993 were also occurring amongst Canadian civilian travellers. This was coming to HPB's attention shortly after the licensing of the drug.

Yours sincerely,