The Malaria Project

In 2003, journalist Karen Masterson stumbled upon a forgotten memo in the National Archives that set her on a mission to unearth a disturbing chapter of World War II history. It contained a sinister plan: The U.S. Government would launch a Manhattan Project-style drug development program to defeat malaria, which by late 1942, had caused more casualties in the Pacific than enemy fire. As battle after battle was lost, America's secret anti-malaria program grew, becoming the war's Number 1 medical priority. After two years of subjecting syphilitics and prison volunteers to horrendous malaria symptoms and painful drug-related side effects, the program found its magic bullet. But it wasn't made by one of the many drug companies working for the war effort. It was stolen in battle from the Nazis, brought to the United States, and developed into an American-made wonder cure.