Tamiflu - Part 3 - Health Plus Digest

Tamiflu is expensive and not always covered by insurance companies. In August 2009, the news reported that the number of side effects being reported after the use of this medication had more than doubled, seemingly overnight. Most of the side effects included heart and psychiatric disorders. These particular figures were published only days after a study was released which showed that more than half of the children who took the medication also suffered from nausea, nightmares and other reactions. (7)

Physicians in Great Britain have also learned that Tamiflu may put a significant number of individuals at greater risk for a stroke when on the medication. It apparently is a combination of an interaction with warfarin, a blood thinning medication, which is taken by more than 600,000 people in Great Britain.

While there may be good reason to give the medication to individuals who have underlying medical conditions that place them at greater risk for developing serious complications from the flu, it appears that those same individuals are also at greater risk for developing serious side effects from the medication which would be used to treat the flu.

Resources:

(1) Center for Disease Control and Prevention: 2011-2012 Influenza Antiviral Medications

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/antivirals/summary-clinicians.htm

(2) PubMed Health: Oseltamivir

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001054/

(3) British Medical Journal Group Blog: Helen Macdonald on Side Effects, Tamiflu and the Swine Flu Hotline

http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2009/07/31/helen-macdonald-on-side-effects-tamiflu-and-the-swine-flu-hotline/

(4) The Guardian: Don’t Give Tamiflu or Relenza to Under-12s, Warns Researchers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/10/children-tamiflu-harms-outweigh-benefits

(5) Drugs.com: Tamiflu

http://www.drugs.com/tamiflu.html

(6) Health Freedom Alliance: Girl, 19, Lft Battling Blindness After Taking Tamiflu