INTENSIVE PHARMING

Tamiflu link to teen suicide

Tamiflu (Oseltamivir), the world's first line of defense against avian influenza, is correlated with teen suicides. This expensive and difficult-to-find drug has been linked to 64 cases of psychological disorders and two teenage suicides in Japan, according to media reports there.

In February 2004 a 17-year-old high school boy under treatment with Tamiflu died after he jumped in front of a truck.
A year later, a 14-year-old junior high student, also taking the drug for influenza, jumped to his death from the ninth floor of his condominium.

Warning of psychiatric problems with Tamiflu

A new warning label has been added to the influenza drug Tamiflu following reports of delirium and hallucinations among people – mostly children - taking the medication.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the label after reports of more than 100 people, mostly in Japan, who suffered unusual psychiatric effects, including cases of self-injury and suicide, when taking the drug.

There have been 103 cases, 95 of them in Japan, of delirium among people with the flu who took Tamiflu and the FDA says about 60% of the affected patients were under 17. Suicide was reported in some cases.

Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche, which manufactures Tamiflu, says that nothing indicated that the drug was responsible for the neuropsychiatric problems. The FDA adds that the relationship between the bizarre behaviour and the drug was not known, but that the label had been amended to “mitigate the potential risk”.

Previously, the label had only mentioned that “seizure and confusion” have been seen in some patients.


[Millions of doses of Tamiflu are being stockpiled by governments and the World Health Organization in the event of a global flu pandemic, which could be sparked if the avian H5N1 virus mutates into a form that can easily be passed among humans.]