Japan family to sue government unit over Tamiflu

TOKYO, July 24 (Reuters) The family of a teenage boy who acted abnormally and died shortly after taking the influenza drug Tamiflu three years ago plans to sue an agency linked to Japan's health ministry, media reports said today.

The father of the high school boy, who died at age 17 in February 2004, would seek 1 million yen (,300) in compensation from the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, the reports said.

The boy dashed out of his home barefoot and was run over by a truck about two hours after taking Tamiflu, they said.

But the agency, in charge of examining claims for damages stemming from side effects of medical drugs, determined that the boy's death had not been caused by Tamiflu, made by Roche Holding AG.

''We would like to know the truth about whether or not there was a causal relationship between Tamiflu and his abnormal behaviour,'' Kyodo news service quoted the 49-year-old father of the boy as saying yesterday.

Jiji news service said the father would mail a letter of complaint to a district court in Gifu, central Japan, as early as today.

Agency officials declined to comment on the reports.

Earlier this year, Japan's Health Ministry issued warnings against prescribing Tamiflu to teenagers, prompted by fresh cases of young people jumping from buildings after taking the drug.

The ministry also said it would launch a full investigation into whether there was a causal link between the drug and psychiatric problems. It had previously maintained there was no link.

Tamiflu is widely prescribed in Japan, with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, the Japanese importer and distributor of Tamiflu, estimating some 35 million people have taken it, accounting for around 70 per cent of the world's Tamiflu consumption.

Roche and Chugai have said no causal relationship has been established between Tamiflu and neuropsychiatric symptoms, and doctors say influenza itself can cause abnormal behaviour.

Tamiflu, known generically as oseltamivir, can treat the symptoms of regular seasonal influenza and it is seen as one of the best defences against a possible bird flu pandemic.

REUTERS SV SSC1340