Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Tamiflu Cited in 2 Teen Deaths, Report Says
TOKYO (Nov. 12) - Two teenage boys who took the antiviral drug Tamiflu
exhibited abnormal behavior that lead to their deaths -- one jumped in
front of an oncoming truck and the other apparently fell from a building,
the Mainichi Shimbun reported Saturday.
Following the first incident, which took place last year, the prescription
drug in Japan began carrying a warning that says possible side effects
include "abnormal behavior" and "hallucinations," the major Japanese
newspaper said.
This is the first time that deaths have been linked to the drug.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is aware of one of the cases. "As
a result of abnormal behavior, it could lead to an accidental death," a
ministry official said.
Rokuro Hama, the doctor who heads the Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance
for Evidence-Based Healthcare, will present the cases at a meeting of the
Japanese Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases on Saturday in Tsu, Mie
Prefecture, the Mainichi said.
Hama, who runs the Osaka-based nonprofit group, was consulted by the boys'
families, according to the newspaper.
The first case occurred in February last year when a 17-year-old male high
school student in Gifu Prefecture was diagnosed with influenza and took a
regular dose, one capsule, of Tamiflu at home at around noon, the newspaper
said.
When no one else was there, the teen, wearing pajamas and barefoot, left
the house, jumped over a fence around the house and ran in the snow, it said.
He then crossed over a guard rail near his home, jumped in front of a big
truck and died at around 3:45 p.m., it said.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., the Japanese distributor of Tamiflu, produced by
Swiss drug giant Roche, reported the incident in July that year to the
health ministry as "a case where a causal link to the drug cannot be
denied," the Mainichi said.
In the second case, a 14-year-old male junior high school student in Aichi
Prefecture was diagnosed with flu on Feb. 5 this year and took one capsule
at around 4 p.m.
He went to his bedroom around 5:30 p.m. About 30 minutes later, the boy was
found lying barefoot in front of his condominium building, and later died,
the newspaper said.
Police said his fingerprints were found on a handrail on the ninth floor of
the building, and the boy is believed to have fallen after hanging onto the
handrail, according to the Mainichi.
Neither of them had exhibited any psychological abnormalities before taking
the drug, the newspaper said.
The government is planning to boost its stockpile of Tamiflu, generically
known as oseltamivir phosphate, amid growing fears about a possible
pandemic of a new type of influenza as bird flu deaths rise across Asia,
health ministry sources said earlier.
Tamiflu is used to inhibit the growth of a flu virus in humans.
11/11/05 21:21 EST
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051111212209990004
TOKYO (Nov. 12) - Two teenage boys who took the antiviral drug Tamiflu
exhibited abnormal behavior that lead to their deaths -- one jumped in
front of an oncoming truck and the other apparently fell from a building,
the Mainichi Shimbun reported Saturday.
Following the first incident, which took place last year, the prescription
drug in Japan began carrying a warning that says possible side effects
include "abnormal behavior" and "hallucinations," the major Japanese
newspaper said.
This is the first time that deaths have been linked to the drug.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is aware of one of the cases. "As
a result of abnormal behavior, it could lead to an accidental death," a
ministry official said.
Rokuro Hama, the doctor who heads the Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance
for Evidence-Based Healthcare, will present the cases at a meeting of the
Japanese Society for Pediatric Infectious Diseases on Saturday in Tsu, Mie
Prefecture, the Mainichi said.
Hama, who runs the Osaka-based nonprofit group, was consulted by the boys'
families, according to the newspaper.
The first case occurred in February last year when a 17-year-old male high
school student in Gifu Prefecture was diagnosed with influenza and took a
regular dose, one capsule, of Tamiflu at home at around noon, the newspaper
said.
When no one else was there, the teen, wearing pajamas and barefoot, left
the house, jumped over a fence around the house and ran in the snow, it said.
He then crossed over a guard rail near his home, jumped in front of a big
truck and died at around 3:45 p.m., it said.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., the Japanese distributor of Tamiflu, produced by
Swiss drug giant Roche, reported the incident in July that year to the
health ministry as "a case where a causal link to the drug cannot be
denied," the Mainichi said.
In the second case, a 14-year-old male junior high school student in Aichi
Prefecture was diagnosed with flu on Feb. 5 this year and took one capsule
at around 4 p.m.
He went to his bedroom around 5:30 p.m. About 30 minutes later, the boy was
found lying barefoot in front of his condominium building, and later died,
the newspaper said.
Police said his fingerprints were found on a handrail on the ninth floor of
the building, and the boy is believed to have fallen after hanging onto the
handrail, according to the Mainichi.
Neither of them had exhibited any psychological abnormalities before taking
the drug, the newspaper said.
The government is planning to boost its stockpile of Tamiflu, generically
known as oseltamivir phosphate, amid growing fears about a possible
pandemic of a new type of influenza as bird flu deaths rise across Asia,
health ministry sources said earlier.
Tamiflu is used to inhibit the growth of a flu virus in humans.
11/11/05 21:21 EST
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20051111212209990004
// posted by Linda Weissinger Lupowitz @ 7:17 AM 
