GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived 
Tamiflu (Oseltamivir), the world's first line of defense against avian influenza, is correlated with teen suicides. This expensive and difficult-to-find drug has been linked to 64 cases of psychological disorders and two teenage suicides in Japan, according to media reports there.
In February 2004, according to an online edition of Japan Times, a 17-year-old high school boy under treatment with Tamiflu died after he jumped in front of a truck.
A year later, a 14-year-old junior high student, also taking the drug for influenza, jumped to his death from the ninth floor of his condominium.
In the case of the first teenage death, the boy had taken Tamiflu after first being treated with amantadine, an older anti-flu drug that is well-known for central nervous system side effects, said Terry Hurley, a spokesman for Tamiflu maker Roche. In the second case, he said there was insufficient information to determine whether the boy's fall was the result of accident or suicide.
Both tragedies, he indicated, could have been triggered by the illness itself.
"Neuropsychiatric disturbances, such as those seen in the two cases, are known complications of influenza and its associated high fever,'' he said.
Cited story.
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Comments
Have any proper studies been done on this? OK, so there have been 64 cases of psychological disorders, but how many would there have been in a "control" population?
Bob
Posted by: Bob O'H | March 8, 2007 1:34 AM