english.prescrire.org > Spotlight > Archives : 2016 > In the February issue of Prescrire International. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu°): over 15 years of data retention and systematic stonewalling

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In the February issue of Prescrire International. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu°): over 15 years of data retention and systematic stonewalling

FREE DOWNLOAD Oseltamivir was authorised in the EU in 2002 for the prevention and treatment of influenza. Despite widespread belief in its efficacy, cleverly orchestrated by the drug's manufacturer and other organisations, a number of independent teams were not convinced and went on a hunt for missing data. They discovered that the available trial results were neither complete nor clinically relevant and provided only weak evidence.
Full text available for free download.

Summary

  • Over a 15-year period, Roche, the company that markets Tamiflu° (oseltamivir), has hampered independent analysis of the assessment data on oseltamivir in the treatment of influenza.
     
  • Worse yet, drug regulators and international organisations have been complicit in this data retention.
     
  • These 15 years of stonewalling represent a lost opportunity for patients and the medical community, while providing the company with an unfair advantage after successfully bringing oseltamivir to the market on the basis of unverified data. 
     

Full text available for free download.

 ©Prescrire 1 February 2016

"Oseltamivir: over 15 years of data retention and systematic stonewalling" Prescrire Int 2016; 25 (168): 55. (Pdf, free)
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For more information:

Oseltamivir and influenza:
still no robust data
Prescrire Int 2016:
25 (168): 52-55.
Pdf, subscribers only

Oseltamivir for influenza,
from birth: no more useful
than in adults
Prescrire Int 2016:
25 (168): 53.
Pdf, subscribers only