Advisers say drug is safe

Tamiflu does not prevent the infection but aims to reduce its severity.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tamiflu is a safe and effective treatment for the flu, federal health advisers said Friday, finding no direct link between the drug and the deaths of 12 Japanese children.
"Kids die of influenza, both in Japan and the United States, and if you give a drug to people who are at risk of dying, there will be people who die who got the drug," said Dr. Robert Nelson, chairman of the Food and Drug Administration's Pediatric Advisory Committee. "There is no signal the drug is doing it, as opposed to the disease."
The Pediatric Advisory Committee, which often meets in obscurity, found the world watching on Friday because it was conducting a routine review of a drug that could play an important role in a pandemic caused by bird flu or another superflu strain.
The committee, in a unanimous vote, told the world not to worry. At the same time, though, it said it would continue to monitor any adverse reactions to the drug.
"If we ever have a pandemic of avian flu, which is a debatable point, people want to know that they have a drug that will not cause more [harm] than the flu itself," Nelson said. "There is no evidence that this will."
The committee reviewed Tamiflu as part of a routine safety check of drugs whose original uses had been extended to cover children. The panel not only reviewed data from the United States, but from Japan, where the anti-viral is in much demand.
Deaths and side effects
It was in Japan where 12 children taking the drug have died since the year 2000. In addition to the deaths, FDA staff briefing materials include reports of 32 "neuropsychiatric events" associated with Tamiflu, all but one experienced by Japanese patients. Those cases included delirium, hallucinations, convulsions and encephalitis.
There have been no reports of deaths linked to Tamiflu in the United States or Europe. But the events in Japan were enough to prompt further evaluations by the United States.
FDA staff said it found no direct link between the use of Tamiflu and the deaths.
Melissa Truffa of the FDA's Office of Drug Safety said there were too many factors involved. They include the use of other medications in some of the children, the presence of other medical conditions besides flu, and lack of details in the reporting of some of the deaths.
Tamiflu, manufactured by Roche Holdings AG, does not prevent the flu but can reduce the severity and length of the illness.
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