While this is a British story it will affect all countries who's taxpayers bought this stuff..........
Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), who has led the campaign for more openness from the drugs industry, said: “The current system isn’t working. There is an irreducible conflict of interest that the pharmaceutical companies have. They manufacture these drugs and they have a duty to their shareholders to make a profit.
Britain has spent £600m on a stockpile of influenza drugs that are no better than paracetamol in relieving flu symptoms and are next to useless in preventing a pandemic, a major study has found.
The companies behind the two main anti-influenza drugs Tamiflu and Relenza held back crucial information that would have shown just how ineffective their drugs were in clinical trials, according to the independent scientists who compiled the report.
Their investigation found little or no evidence to support the manufacturers’ claims about the effectiveness of the two drugs and questioned the Government’s rationale for building up an emergency stockpile of 40 million doses.
The scientists also criticised the drug-regulatory authorities for failing to ask for the full details of the clinical trials to be released before giving their approval.
In a searing indictment of the opacity of the pharmaceuticals industry, the ineffectiveness of the drug-regulatory process and the gullibility of politicians and government scientific advisers, the report delivers an excoriating account of one of the biggest drug scandals of the century.
More worrying, however, was the evidence indicating that Tamiflu – which makes up about 85 per cent of the stockpile – when taken as a preventative medicine may result in serious side effects, such as kidney problems, high blood sugar and psychiatric disorders such as depression and delirium.
more
The drugs don't work: Britain wasted £600m of taxpayers' money on useless flu pills stockpiled by Government in case of pandemic - Science - News - The Independent
Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), who has led the campaign for more openness from the drugs industry, said: “The current system isn’t working. There is an irreducible conflict of interest that the pharmaceutical companies have. They manufacture these drugs and they have a duty to their shareholders to make a profit.
Britain has spent £600m on a stockpile of influenza drugs that are no better than paracetamol in relieving flu symptoms and are next to useless in preventing a pandemic, a major study has found.
The companies behind the two main anti-influenza drugs Tamiflu and Relenza held back crucial information that would have shown just how ineffective their drugs were in clinical trials, according to the independent scientists who compiled the report.
Their investigation found little or no evidence to support the manufacturers’ claims about the effectiveness of the two drugs and questioned the Government’s rationale for building up an emergency stockpile of 40 million doses.
The scientists also criticised the drug-regulatory authorities for failing to ask for the full details of the clinical trials to be released before giving their approval.
In a searing indictment of the opacity of the pharmaceuticals industry, the ineffectiveness of the drug-regulatory process and the gullibility of politicians and government scientific advisers, the report delivers an excoriating account of one of the biggest drug scandals of the century.
More worrying, however, was the evidence indicating that Tamiflu – which makes up about 85 per cent of the stockpile – when taken as a preventative medicine may result in serious side effects, such as kidney problems, high blood sugar and psychiatric disorders such as depression and delirium.
more
The drugs don't work: Britain wasted £600m of taxpayers' money on useless flu pills stockpiled by Government in case of pandemic - Science - News - The Independent