Bird Flu - Archives
Japan
Tamiflu Death - A Japanese Family Sues
A Japanese family whose
son
died after taking Tamiflu are to sue the country's Pharmaceutical and
Medical Devices Agency:
The 17-year-old died in February 2004 when he ran out of his home in his
bare feet and was run over by a truck about two hours after taking Tamiflu...
The suit comes months after Japanese health authorities ordered doctors not
to prescribe Tamiflu...to patients aged 10-19 following dozens of deaths and
injuries among teenagers over the past six years.
More than 1,300 people have exhibited neuropsychiatric symptoms since
Tamiflu went on sale in Japan in 2001, of whom 71 have died. Twenty-seven,
most in their teens, fell from buildings.
Last month the health ministry announced new clinical trials to establish
whether the antiviral could cause delirium, delusion and other
neuropsychiatric symptoms. The ministry had previously ruled out any link.
July 25th, 2007
Japan - More Tamiflu "Bizarre Behavior"?
Does Tamiflu cause erratic behavior in youngsters? For some time there have
been
reports from Japan - where Tamiflu is widely prescribed - of young
people committing suicide after taking the drug.
Now US Food and Drug Administration officials are advising that all
patients, and especially children, be
monitored when using Tamiflu.
This follows 103 reported new cases from Japan of "bizarre behavior" between
August 2005 and July 2006.
November 14th, 2006
Another Tamiflu Suicide in Japan?
Tamiflu is widely prescribed in Japan for flu sufferers, and some months
back came reports of a
series of mystery deaths - including several suicides - from patients
who had taken the drug. Now, we have
another report:
A junior high school boy plunged to his death on Monday evening after
taking the controversial "tamiflu" drug, which has been blamed for producing
dangerous side-effects, police said.
At around 5:50 p.m. on Monday, a passer-by found a boy lying face-down in
the parking lot of a prefectural apartment complex in the Onaga district of
Tomigusuku, local police said. He was rushed to hospital where he was
pronounced dead.
The boy has been confirmed to be a 12-year-old, first-year junior high
school student living in a sixth-floor condominium in the complex.
His family said the boy took tamiflu at around noon on Monday because he had
a high fever. However, after his fever did not decline, he took an
anti-febrile drug later in the day.
Some people who have taken tamiflu have shown irregular behavior such as
sleep-walking. However, the causal relationship between the drug and such
behavior has not been proven.
July 5th, 2006
42 Tamiflu Deaths in
Japan?
Japan’s Mainichi
Daily News is reporting that
42 people have died in Japan after using Tamiflu, though in only two
cases is a direct causal link apparent.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on Friday that officials
had received reports of three new deaths after the victims used Tamiflu.
Including the three latest victims, the number of deaths after taking the
drug stands at 42 nationwide, as of Jan. 20.
Of the 42, 14 were 16
years of age or younger, officials said. Only two cases, men in their 50s
and 80s, were causally related to the use of Tamiflu, they added. After
questioning experts, the officials suggested that the remaining 40 people's
deaths were not particularly related to the drug.
January 28th,
2006
Japan –
More Tamiflu Deaths?
A vague
story, appearing on the
Japan Today
website – and, apparently, nowhere else - and sourced from Kyodo News
Service (one of the two big Japanese news agencies), says that two local men
have died after taking Tamiflu.
The entire
story reads:
The Ministry of
Health, Labor and Welfare said Thursday that two men in their 50s and 80s
have died after taking the anti-flu drug Tamiflu either by developing a
serious skin disease or by kidney failure.
The ministry,
however, denied there are "serious concerns" about the safety of Tamiflu at
the moment, because the two men had been taking three other medicines such
as antibiotics or drugs to treat high blood pressure, which could cause
similar symptoms. The number of people aged 17 and above who died after
taking Tamiflu stands at 26 since drug importer Chugai Pharmaceutical Co
started selling Tamiflu in Japan in February 2001, ministry officials said.
December 16th,
2005
Tamiflu
“Didn’t Cause Japanese Deaths”
The
Japan
Pediatric Society has issued a statement declaring that it can find no link
between Tamiflu and the deaths of 12 Japanese children who took the drug.
According to the Society:
The symptoms observed
in the 12 cases could also be seen in other patients who were not given the
drug….The group also said that it was possible that the children's influenza
had worsened a separate underlying medical condition, leading to the deaths.
The society's
findings come weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also
concluded that Tamiflu was not connected to the deaths.
Japan's Health
Ministry issued a warning in mid-November that Tamiflu may induce "strange
behavior" after reporting that two teenage boys died shortly after taking
the medicine.
The society said it
saw no need to issue any fresh warnings regarding the drug. However, it
recommended that doctors continue to take precautions when administering
Tamiflu to patients and monitor them for side effects.
December 2nd,
2005
What’s
Happening in Japan?
Suddenly,
we keep hearing reports of deaths or strange behavior in Japan from people
who have taken Tamiflu. A week ago the
Japanese Health Ministry revealed that two teenagers apparently
committed suicide after taking Tamiflu. Now come reports of a
series of other cases, forcing the US Food and Drug Administration to
investigate:
An FDA advisory panel
Friday said that Tamiflu is safe and apparently unrelated to the deaths of
12 Japanese children who took the drug. The Food and Drug Administration
panel did suggest adding warnings about possible serious skin conditions,
and said the FDA should review the drug safety profile again in a year. But
by a unanimous vote, they said there was no evidence to link the drug to the
deaths or to serious psychiatric events in children.
The 12 deaths in the
past 13 months included one suicide, four cases of sudden death and four
heart attacks. Other deaths involved asphyxiation, pneumonia and acute
pancreatitis. There have also been 32 cases of psychiatric abnormalities,
including delusions, hallucinations and delirium, reported in children who
had taken Tamiflu. Thirty-one of the cases involving psychiatric episodes
occurred in Japan. Two of the psychiatric cases involved teenagers who
jumped from second-floor windows after taking two doses of the drug.
"In many of these
cases, a relationship to Tamiflu was difficult to assess because of the use
of other medications, presence of other medical conditions, and/or lack of
adequate detail. The level of detail in these reports was highly variable
and determining the contribution of Tamiflu to the deaths was difficult," an
FDA summary said.
According to a report in
New Scientist,
“a
safety committee of the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) has also
requested information from the drug's manufacturer Roche.” The reports have
caused a
sharp dip in the share price of Chugai Pharmaceutical, which markets
Tamiflu in Japan.
November
19th, 2005
Today’s
News Is Not Good
Item 1
– The
Japanese health ministry has revealed that two teenage boys who took
Tamiflu subsequently exhibited abnormal behavior that led to their deaths. A
17-year-old boy took Tamiflu, then left home in his pajamas and jumped in
front of a truck. A 14-year-old boy fell from the ninth floor of his
apartment building after taking the drug.
In Japan the drug
carries a warning of possible impaired consciousness, abnormal behavior,
hallucinations, and other psychological and neurological symptoms. The
ministry is considering issuing a fresh warning….The Pharmaceuticals and
Medical Devices Agency said there were 64 cases of psychological disorders
linked to the drug between fiscal 2000 and 2004.
Item 2
- The
Chinese government says an eighth outbreak of bird flu within a month is
creating a "very serious situation" because the virus seems to be spreading.
Item 3
-
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City Pasteur Institute has found that the bird flu
virus strain H5N1 in the country has mutated to make it more dangerous.
November 13th,
2005
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