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Anti-Flu Drug Linked to Deaths of Two Teenagers in Japan - Agency

Posted on: Saturday, 12 November 2005, 06:00 CST

Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo

Tokyo, 12 November: Two teenage boys who took the anti-viral drug Tamiflu exhibited abnormal behaviour that led to their deaths, with one jumping in front of an oncoming truck last year and the other falling from the ninth floor of a building earlier this year, Health Ministry and other sources said Saturday [12 November].

"This was the first report of a death attributable to abnormal behaviour where a causal link with the drug cannot be ruled out," said an official of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

The ministry was notified of the first case that took place in February last year by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co, the Japanese distributor of the prescription medicine made by Swiss drug giant Roche, the official said.

The drug in Japan carries a note listing impaired consciousness, abnormal behaviours, hallucination and other psychological and neurological symptoms as possible serious side effects.

The ministry is considering making a fresh warning about them, following its decision to increase the stockpile of the drug amid growing fears about a possible pandemic of a new type of influenza as bird flu deaths rise across Asia.

The first case in February last year involved a 17-year-old male high school student in Gifu Prefecture, according to Chugai Pharmaceutical and Rokuro Hama, a doctor who was consulted by the boys' families and who leads the Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance for Evidence-Based Healthcare.

He was diagnosed with influenza and took one capsule of Tamiflu. He left the house wearing pajamas, went over a guard rail near his home, jumped in front of a truck and died.

In February this year, a 14-year-old male junior high school student fell from the ninth floor of a condominium building where he lived, after taking the drug.

There is also a report of a teen attempting to jump from a window of a building. The Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency said there were 64 cases of psychological disorders linked to the drug between fiscal 2000 and 2004.

The Health Ministry advised caution in June last year in a bulletin on the safety of drugs and medical devices.

The government is planning to boost its target stockpile of Tamiflu, generically known as oseltamivir phosphate, to 250 million capsules, up 70 per cent from its previous target, to cover treatment for 25 million people.

In the last flu season, Chugai Pharmaceutical delivered Tamiflu for about 8.6 million people, assuming 10 capsules per person, accounting for an estimated 60-70 per cent of the global consumption.

Tamiflu is used to inhibit the growth of flu virus in humans.

Source: BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific

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