Tamiflu Deemed Ineffective

          Fever, coughing, weakness, headache--time to go to the doctor, who might prescribe an antiviral to shorten the length of your symptoms. Oseltamivir, marketed under the trade name Tamiflu, is a popular medicine or preventing or treating the flu in adults and children. After the British government spent over $700 million stockpiling Tamiflu, a new analysis published in the British Medical Journal reports that this drug is actually ineffective and that money has been wasted on its development. When the drug was first introduced to the public, not all of the data from the trials was published. When trying for FDA approval, they withheld trials that did not yield the best results. BMJ managed to convinced the drug's manufacturer, Roche, to release full reports.
          While the drug has been shown to reduce the duration of symptoms by roughly a half of a day, there's no evidence that concludes its ability to reduce hospital admissions or complications, such as pneumonia or bronchitis, from infection. It was also found that Tamiflu may also slightly increase the risk of side effects such as nausea/vomiting and kidney problems in adults. Many say that Tamiflu works as a placebo, at best.
          Tamiflu is not a cheap drug to use; it can cost around $100 for a 5-day treatment! Personally, I do not think it is worth it to spend that much on a medicine that has not been proven to have a significant effect!



http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/04April/Pages/questions-over-tamiflu-relenza-effectiveness.aspx

http://rt.com/news/flu-drug-britain-spending-600/

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39686/title/Updated-Review--Tamiflu-Is-a-Bust/