FDA: Flu drugs affecting kids behavior

[Echo In Light]

FDA: Flu drugs affecting kids behavior

Tamiflu was created by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc.. Don Rumsfeld was appointed as Chairman of Gilead Sciences in 1997, a position held prior to becoming Bush's Secretary of Defense. The unsavory health history of this product was suspect almost from the beginning.

As reported by by the website Global Research on 26 October, 2005, pointing to the research done by Joseph Mercola @ www.mercola.com:

"Finally, the pieces of the puzzle start to add up. Not long ago, President Bush sought to instill panic in this country by telling us a minimum of 200,000 people will die from the avian flu pandemic, but it could be as bad as 2 million deaths in this country alone.

This hoax is then used to justify the immediate purchase of 80 million doses of Tamiflu, a worthless drug that in no way shape or form treats the avian flu, but only decreases the amount of days one is sick and can actually contribute to the virus having more lethal mutations.

So the U.S. placed an order for 20 million doses of this worthless drug at a price of $100 per dose. That comes to a staggering $2 billion.

Since Rumsfeld holds major portions of stock in Gilead, he will handsomely profit from the scare tactics of the government that is being used to justify the purchase of $2 billion of Tamiflu."

Many drugs out there on the market today are not about really making people better: they are simply about making profits.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/FDA_Flu_drugs_affecting_kids_behavi_11242007.html

[SpiralHawk]

1. "Shut up and eat your soma." - Big Republicon Government

[LeftishBrit]

2. Just because a drug has side effects, doesn't mean that it can't make people better

In fact, it's the opposite: if a drug has no potential to cause side effects, it's probably not powerful enough to make people better.

Tamiflu doesn't cure flu, but it does make the symptoms less severe, and that can be absolutely crucial for some people. I would not recommend giving Tamiflu as a routine treatment for people with flu - for healthy people who don't get the flu too badly, it's probably better to rely on bedrest and one's natural defences. But for people who are in poor health or get the flu badly, taking the drug can literally make the difference between life and death - and some behaviour problesm are worth risking for that.

Meanwhile, I hope that some way is found of PREVENTING the avian flu in the first place through immunization.

[whistle]

3. Are they still putting mercury in these vaccines to preserve them?

[drm604]

4. Tamiflu and Relenza aren't vaccines.

The article isn't about vaccines.

[fed-up]

5. FDA staff urges new psychiatric warnings for flu drugs

Additional warnings urged for 2 flu drugs (Tamiflu & Relenza)

Source: Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Food and Drug Administration experts are recommending new label warnings about possible dangerous psychiatric side effects of influenza drugs Tamiflu and Relenza, according to FDA documents.

<snip>
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/5325327.html
Studies revealed 596 cases in which patients who took Tamiflu experienced "neuropsychiatric events" such as delirium, delusions or hallucinations. The episodes sometimes led to impulsive behavior and self-injury. Tamiflu is made by Roche Holdings.

The problems tended to occur within 24 hours of first taking the drug, and the majority were in patients younger than 21, mostly in Japan, according to the documents. In five cases involving pediatric patients, the reported delirium resulted in death, and there were three reports of suicide in adults.

"In the remaining reports of delirium with impulsive behavior and self-injury, patients were attempting to flee or escape from windows or balconies and were unsuccessful in their efforts," the FDA documents say. "In addition, there were a few patients who became aggressive or violent and/or performed acts that were injurious to themselves (e.g. banging head against wall) or others ... ."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071123/us_nm/fda_fludrugs_dc

FDA staff urges new psychiatric warnings for flu drugs

FDA staff urge warnings for two flu drugs
By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Food and Drug Administration staffers are recommending new warnings about psychiatric events observed in some patients taking Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu and GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Relenza, according to documents released on Friday.

In documents prepared for the meeting next week and posted on the FDA's Web site, agency staff recommended that Tamiflu's label be strengthened to note: "In some cases, these behaviors resulted in serious injuries, including death, in adult and pediatric patients."

The FDA staff also reviewed Relenza, a drug in the same class as Tamiflu, recommending its label be changed to note "reports of hallucinations, delirium and abnormal behavior" observed in some patients taking the drug.

FDA staff based its recommendations on a review of nearly 600 cases of neuropsychiatric events reported by patients on Tamiflu and 115 cases of such events by patients taking Relenza...

..snip

[LeftCoast]

6. Well...where to begin?

I'll just hit two highlights.

One. Being prepared for H5N1 is not some Bush plot to take over the world. It may make some of his friends a lot of money, but that's hardly surprising since just about anything that makes large amounts of money is going to probably help some friends of his some place. Human society is more at risk for a global pandemic than it has ever been before. We must be prepared.

Two. Tamiflu is not worthless, but like ALL medications it does have side-effects. That's one reason you need a prescription. With any medication, you must weigh the benefits with the risks. Additionally, because of random human genetic variability you're only truly going to see all the side-effects of a drug once it's actually in use.

[Echo In Light]

7. Bump n/t