Case dropped against U.S. soldier initially accused of cowardice

[Cannikin]

(CNN) -- The U.S. Army Thursday dropped its case against a soldier who was initially accused of cowardice after he suffered a panic attack when he saw the bloody corpse of an Iraqi on his second day in the war zone.

The decision to drop the case against Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany came after a Navy doctor last month diagnosed him as suffering from damage to his balance system, most likely caused by Lariam, an anti-malaria drug issued to some troops serving in Iraq.

Hallucinations and panic attacks are among the possible side effects listed by Lariam's manufacturer, Roche Pharmaceuticals.

"The command reviewed all of the information, as well as Staff Sgt. Pogany's medical condition, and decided the best course of action was to drop the charges," said a spokeswoman for the Army Special Forces Command in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/15/army.dropped.charges/index.html