http://www.voanews.
QUOTE
Japan Links Tamiflu to Sudden Deaths in Children
By Steve Herman
Tokyo
13 November 2005
Tamiflu
Japan's health ministry says it plans to reissue a warning of
dangerous behavioral side effects linked to the anti-influenza drug
Tamiflu. This comes amid reports that several children in Japan died
after taking the medication. Governments around the world are
stockpiling the medicine amid growing fears of a possible human
pandemic of avian influenza.
Japan's health ministry says it is looking into reports of a number
of sudden deaths of young people who had taken prescribed dosages of
Tamiflu.
The ministry confirms that it has concluded that the death of one
boy was the result of side effects from the drug. The ministry says
it has found 64 cases of psychological disorders linked to the drug
in the past four years.
Dr. Rokuro Hama, head of the Japan Institute of Pharmaco-Vigilance,
says he has investigated eight suspicious deaths of children aged
between two and 17 over the past three years, which he thinks are
linked to Tamiflu. He reported his findings Saturday at a meeting of
the Japan Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Hama said Sunday that Tamiflu appears to be similar to other
powerful drugs that can cause behavioral changes.
"These are tranquilizers, sedatives or hypnotics. These cause
discontrol or disregulation of the central nervous system. So it may
cause very bizarre phenomenon or behavior," said Dr. Hama.
Investigators say in one case last year, a 17-year-old boy, after
taking the medication, left his home during a snowstorm, and jumped
in front of a truck and died.
Earlier this year, a 14-year-old boy, after taking one Tamiflu
capsule, jumped or fell from the ninth floor of an apartment
building.
Doctors say in both cases the boys had not exhibited any abnormal
behavior before taking Tamiflu.
Yuji Yamashita of Chugai Pharmaceutical, the Japanese distributor
for Tamiflu, said Sunday that the company had notified the health
ministry about two deaths involving teenage boys. However, Mr.
Yamashita said he had no knowledge of any other cases of
psychological side effects the ministry has tracked.
Tamiflu, which has the generic name of oseltamivir phosphate, is
produced by Roche, based in Switzerland. The medication inhibits the
growth of flu virus in humans.
In Japan, the medication comes with a warning alerting patients to
the possibility of impaired consciousness, abnormal behavior,
hallucinations, and other psychological and neurological symptoms.
But Dr. Hama at the Institute of Pharmaco-Vigilance says because
Tamiflu is a new drug, most health care professionals wrongly
conclude behavioral changes are the result of delirium caused by
high fever.
Dr. Hama says the health ministry's initial alert last year received
little notice, even among medical professionals.
"It was not reported, distributed through the mass media, so doctors
do not notice that warning," he said.
In other countries, including the United States, there is no such
explicit warning with the medication.
Roche, in its consumer information, says there have been cases of
seizures and confusion in patients who have taken Tamiflu but, as
with a number of other side effects, "it is not possible to reliably
estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to
Tamiflu exposure."
Roche officials at its headquarters in Switzerland and the United
States were not available Sunday to comment directly on the new
warning from Japan. However, a company statement issued Sunday said
Tamiflu has been shown to have a "good safety profile". Roche says
it monitors reports of side effects but says they must be considered
in the context of flu symptoms, which includes high fevers that can
lead to neurological complications.
Japan, like many other nations, is boosting its stockpile of
Tamiflu, in case there is a flu pandemic in the next few years. The
government is trying to acquire 250 million capsules to cover
treatment for 25 million people. End Quote.
KNowing what we know, it is obvious it is the Thimerosal in the
Tamiflu that is causing these bizzare behaviors.