JAPANESE health authorities are investigating a flu medicine that is also
available in Australia after a teenager jumped 11 storeys to his death after
taking the drug. It was the 18th juvenile fatality linked to Tamiflu in 17
months. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has asked the Japanese importer of
Tamiflu, an anti-viral drug regarded as the most important shield against bird
flu in humans, to collect information about the conditions of patients who take
the drug. The 14-year-old boy's death follows a similar case two weeks ago, when a girl
also 14, died after jumping from an apartment building at Gamagori, in central
Japan. It also comes after a warning by the US Food and Drug Administration late
last year about the dangers of giving children Tamiflu. The drug is being
stockpiled in Australia as the first line of defence against bird flu. In
Australia, as in Japan, it is only available by prescription. The Swiss manufacturer, Roche, says the rate of deaths and psychiatric
disturbances among people taking its medication is no higher than for flu
sufferers generally. It denies there is evidence of a direct correlation between
the drug and the fatalities. In the latest case the teenager, from Sendai in Japan's north-east, had been
prescribed a five-day course of Tamiflu by his doctor. After taking two tablets
on Monday, he woke during the evening and told his mother he was going to the
bathroom, but went out the front door instead. His mother followed him and called out when she saw him climbing a 1.3-metre
handrail. Police said he did not respond, throwing himself off to the parking
lot below. There was nothing to suggest the death was a suicide. Hakuo Yanagisawa, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare, urged the
public to stay calm. "There needs to be clear evidence," he said. Drug companies reported that 54 people using Tamiflu died in Japan before
November, the ministry said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/bird-flu-vaccine-linked-to-18-teenage-suicides-in-japan
