With the flu season in full swing, a Texas family found out the hard way that Tamiflu can have some serious side effects: their six-year-old daughter tried to jump out of a window.
While every drug comes with various potential side effects, which may or may not manifest, the effects Tamiflu had on their young daughter was beyond anything the family could have imagined.
Flu Medicine Has Terrible Side Effects
According to a new report from local CBS 11 (KTVT) in North Texas, a six-year-old girl with influenza experienced strong side effects after taking popular flu medicine Tamiflu. The girl started to hallucinate and ran away from school, then tried to jump out of a window.
The girl was in her bedroom on the second story and used a desk to climb onto the open window. When her mother entered the room, the girl was about to jump. Luckily, her mother managed to grab her in the nick of time and prevent a potential tragedy.
Tamiflu Side Effects Can Include Psychosis
The parents took the girl to the hospital, where they learned from a doctor that in very rare cases, Tamiflu side effects can include problems with the nervous system, including psychosis. Dr. Glenn Hardesty, an ER physician from the Texas Health Prosper, acknowledges that such side effects are extremely rare, but not impossible.
"Less than 1 percent is what's listed in the data sheet," says Hardesty. "I've been in practice 20 years, and I haven't seen that particular complication."
The doctor further highlights that any drug comes with potential side effects. The girl's father, meanwhile, notes that 16 hours of relieving the flu symptoms are not worth the potential side effects his daughter experienced.
The family from Allen, Texas, wanted to remain anonymous, but they reportedly plan to file a complaint with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hopefully prompt a more detailed investigation into Tamiflu. In the meantime, they encourage any parents to think twice and do their homework before giving Tamiflu or other drugs to their children.
What Is Tamiflu?
Tamiflu, also known as oseltamivir, is a neuraminidase inhibitor that aims to inhibit the flu virus' rate of reproduction. When taken early on, the drug can ameliorate flu symptoms. Amid various warning and precautions, the FDA prospect for Tamiflu lists serious hypersensitivity or skin reactions, as well as neuropsychiatric events.
"Patients with influenza, including those receiving TAMIFLU, particularly pediatric patients, may be at an increased risk of confusion or abnormal behavior early in their illness," notes the FDA, advising people to keep an eye out for any signs of abnormal behavior.
Tamiflu Reported Incidents Include A Dozen Deaths
As pointed out in Forbes Magazine, this is not the first time that people, especially children, have experienced severe side effects from Tamiflu. There have been a number of other cases in which kids and teenagers had nightmares, hallucinated, jumped out of windows, or showed other signs of abnormal behavior.
Forbes further highlights that back in 2005, the FDA studied reports of more than a hundred cases in which Tamiflu caused confusion, delirium, hallucination, and other types of abnormal behavior. Moreover, 12 children in Japan reportedly died after taking Tamiflu.
Another case report, meanwhile, described how a 22-year-old man who took oseltamivir suffered from suicidal thoughts, mood swings, auditory hallucinations, insomnia, and memory deterioration.
