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The action comes nearly a month after a military doctor diagnosed the soldier, Staff Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany, 33, with oxotoxicity — inner ear damage than can be caused by Lariam.

Lariam is an anti-malarial drug given to soldiers in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Veterans Affairs doctors are advised to be careful in dispensing it, as it has possible severe side effects for some, effects that may continue for months after the drug is stopped.

Pogany was on Lariam when he spent a week in Iraq last fall attached to the 10th Special Forces Group in Iraq. Pogany was sent home to Fort Carson, Colo., a week after the incident, during which he watched as a group of soldiers walked with an open body bag holding the remains of an Iraqi hit by fire from a Bradley fighting vehicle. He began shaking and vomiting, he said, and was overwhelmed by an emotion of impending doom and fear for his life.

When he got to Colorado, he was charged with cowardice — but the charge subsequently was downgraded to dereliction of duty.

In mid-December, the Army offered Pogany an Article 15 administrative hearing on the lesser dereliction charge. But he rejected it, demanding a court-martial.

“He believed he wouldn’t get a fair hearing. He wanted the opportunity to present evidence on his own behalf and to cross-examine government witnesses. At an Article 15, the commander determines the accused’s guilt or innocence,” said his lawyer, former Army judge advocate general Richard Travis.

Pogany’s case remained in legal limbo until recently.

In an Associated Press report, Sgt. 1st Class Blake Waltman, a spokesman with the Army’s Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., verified the dereliction of duty charge was dropped July 15 after the Army learned Pogony “may have a medical problem that requires care and treatment.”

In a July 22 interview with Army Times, Pogany said the Lariam damaged his brain stem, leaving him dizzy and off balance. He said he has photosensitivity. And while he was taking the drug, from Sept. 15 to Oct. 6, he said he was nauseated, had hallucinations and suffered anxiety and panic attacks — symptoms of acute Lariam toxicity.

Pogany fears he has no future in the Army. “My command is looking into the possibly of medically retiring me,” he said. Either that, or an enlistment that expires in May, will be how he leaves the Army, he said. Meanwhile, Pogany holds an administrative job at Fort Carson and does daily physical therapy.

Pogany says he has no idea how he’ll get by when he leaves the Army.

Soldiers shun him. “For the most part, they don’t want anything to do with me. I’ve been verbally attacked,” he said.

Pogany said he was falsely accused and wants a written apology from the Army. Under military law, he can’t recover the $14,000 he paid in attorney’s fees.