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Family says Tamiflu caused their 15-year-old to commit suicide

By Lorena Inclán, Action News Jax and Action News Jax
By Lorena Inclán, Action News Jax and Action News Jax

A growing number of parents have reported their children have had bizarre side effects after taking Tamiflu, including hallucinations and bizarre behavior.

One family is now blaming their teen's suicide on the drug.

Tamiflu is often the go-to prescription for doctors when patients show signs of the flu.

St. Vincent’s Dr. Allen Todd said that’s because it’s extremely effective.

“It’s pretty benign, doesn’t have a lot of side effects and it’s supposed to lessen the duration of the flu by a day or two,” Todd said.

However, he does note that some patients can experience discomfort when taking the medicine.

“The two most common side effects of Tamiflu are headache or abdominal pain or vomiting, which you can get with the flu anyway, otherwise it’s a pretty safe medicine,” Todd said.

Parents in Indiana said the medicine wasn’t safe for their 15-year-old boy, who they claim committed suicide after taking Tamiflu.

Some local parents were shocked to hear that report.

“I’ve never heard of someone taking their life from taking medicine like that no,” Jason Kowalski said.

“I think it’s terrible but I didn’t actually hear about that,” Courtney Malone said.

Action News Jax checked the Tamiflu website and it said children or teens with the flu are at an increased risk of confusion or abnormal behavior.

Todd said he’s never heard of such an extreme case like the one in Indiana.

Regardless, he said, parents need to monitor their kids.

“As with any illness you should keep a close eye on anyone that has it,” Todd said.

Tamiflu declined to comment on the case in Indiana but a spokesperson sent Action News Jax the following statement:

We cannot comment on the specific case you mentioned at this time. 

But I wanted to provide some information on safety of Tamiflu in general:

  • The most common side effects associated with Tamiflu are nausea, vomiting, headache and pain.
  • Neuropsychiatric events have been reported during administration of Tamiflu in patients with influenza, especially in children and adolescents. These events are also experienced by patients with influenza without Tamiflu administration. Patients should be closely monitored for behavioral changes, and the benefits and risks of continuing treatment with Tamiflu should be carefully evaluated for each patient.
  • We take all such reports very seriously and undertake thorough investigations. Data is provided to regulatory authorities for their independent review and to date there is no data suggesting a link with antiviral treatment.

Cox Media Group

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