Tamiflu side effect concerns grow after Japan deaths

By George Nishiyama

TOKYO (Reuters) - Concerns that the influenza drug Tamiflu -- seen as effective against a possible pandemic triggered by bird flu -- may induce fatal side effects are growing in Japan after two people who took it fell to their deaths last month.

The deaths, the latest cases of abnormal behavior by those who took Tamiflu, prompted the Health Ministry to issue a warning last week that influenza patients could show psychiatric problems, although it has denied the drug was responsible for them.

But the move was too little too late, said a group whose members say they are victims of Tamiflu side effects, which came to light in Japan in 2005 after 12 children died and 32 experienced abnormal behavior after taking the drug.

"Had they issued a warning earlier, then the number of deaths could have been halved," said Haruhiko Nokiba, whose 17-year-old son walked onto an expressway shortly after taking Tamiflu and was hit and killed by a truck in 2004.

The incident was seen as a suicide, but Nokiba, who heads the victims and families group, said his son had no reason to kill himself and circumstances showed that it was a result of abnormal behavior.

"He ran out into the snow barefoot in his pajamas, climbed over a 3-meter fence to cross train tracks and then ran into a truck," Nokiba told Reuters in an interview this week.

According to the Health Ministry, 54 people have died so far after taking Tamiflu, and in February, a 14-year-old girl and a boy fell to their deaths from their apartment homes in separate incidents after taking the drug. Neither had left a suicide note. Continued...Tamiflu side effect concerns grow after Japan deaths | Health | Reuters