Japan Suspends Use of Tamiflu
Warning Comes in Response to Drug Maker Claims Tamiflu is Safe
The emergency suspension of administration of the drug pertains only to children between the ages of 10 and 19.
Tamiflu is an anti-influenza medication produced by pharmaceutical giant Roche. The drug has come under fire recently for it's reported link to the suicide deaths of at least 14 Japanese youth. Some sources report the number as high as 57.
Tamiflu is one of only a few drugs that is believed to be successful in stopping the spread of the highly contagious bird flu.
Complaints about Tamiflu and its potential for causing neurological problems link back as far as 2002. Between 2002 and 2005 over 64 cases were reported in Japan describing adverse psychological problems from teens treated with the drug. In one case, a 17 year-old boy taking the anti-flu medication jumped in front of truck during a snowstorm.
In a statement released on Tuesday by Roche, the company cites that clinical studies in the United States and Japan show that the incident of psychiatric problems is not higher in patients being treated with Tamiflu than in the general public. According to Roche, clinical studies have shown similar rates of neurological and psychiatric events in pediatric influenza patients being treated with Tamiflu compared to those receiving no treatment for their influenza.
The Japanese government countered today with a statement of their own urging health professionals to not administer Tamiflu to children between the ages of 10 and 19. The Japanese Dept. of Health and Welfare also asked Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., the Japanese importer of the drug, to include additional labels on the packaging warning of the severe psychiatric side-effects associated with Tamiflu.
According to the Kyoda News Agency of Japan, a press conference was urgently convened early Wednesday in Japan, and Tatsuo Kurokawa, who is in charge of pharmaceutical issues at the ministry's secretariat, said it is necessary to issue an alert although there are no causal relations between Tamiflu and the incidents.
The suspension of the use of Tamiflu to treat Japanese youth comes amid reports of an additional two teens attempting to commit suicide last month after taking the drug. Two other Japanese teenagers died from apparent suicide in February after taking Tamiflu earlier in the day.
Sources: Kyodo News Agency
Reuters
Published by Polly Merase
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