Donnie Cardenas, on bed, waits with his roommate Torrey Jewett at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif., Jan. 10, 2018. Cardenas had the flu.
AP Photo/Greg Bull
The flu is not only making millions of people sick this year. It’s causing fear and, along with it, a lot of confusion. Should you get a flu shot? Should you see the doctor? An expert advises.
The flu vaccine doesn’t cover all strains of the flu that exist.
Sam Mooy/AAP
Cold and flu season is here, but getting worried about it might only hurt your chances of staying healthy.
As part of pandemic preparation, in the early 2000s many countries amassed large stockpiles of the influenza neuraminidase inhibitor Tamiflu.
Tony Hisgett/Flickr
One of the biggest recent controversies in medicine involves the effectiveness of the antiviral drug Tamiflu. Governments have stockpiled the drug but many have raised doubts about its usefulness.
Conflicting recommendations about flu drugs has made it difficult for doctors to decide whether to prescribe them.
Andrew Wales/Flickr
Research involving pharmaceutical company input is notoriously compromised. While not all industry ties lead to biased research, and not all biases are a consequence of industry ties, many studies show…
Antivirals Tamiflu and Relenza were stockpiled by governments across the world in response to the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
Andrew Wales/Flickr
Antiviral drugs are largely ineffective for reducing hospital admissions and complications from influenza, and come with serious side-effects, according to a research review published by the Cochrane Collaboration…
Big pharma: a world of many faces.
Greg Peverill-Conti
With billions to be made on the back of ill health and notable scandals and cover-ups in its history, it’s fair to say that many see the public face of the pharmaceutical industry as a mask for darker…
OK, time to find out what’s in it …
PA/David Cheskin
As a doctor it’s my job to prescribe lotions and potions. To do so, I read information about drug trials in books and medical journals to keep me up to speed on the latest drugs, dangers and side effects…
Tamiflu was stockpiled amid flu outbreaks and scares.
Rui Vieira/PA
Are you worried about how decisions involving public money are made? You should be. Last week, the National Audit Office disclosed that the Department of Health spent £424 million on the anti-flu drug…
Non-publication of clinical trial data is a waste of research resources, among other things.
Esther Dyson
If researchers go to the effort of getting funds, recruiting patients, and following them up, you would think that they would be keen to publish the results. So it’s surprising that our best estimates…
The effectiveness of influenza drug Tamiflu has been called into question.
AAP / Gatean Bally
Public health researchers have stepped up their campaign to access clinical trial data about influenza drug Tamiflu, amid concerns about its effectiveness. Professor Peter Gøtzsche, leader of the Nordic…
Does Tamiflu work the way its manufacturer claims?
A team of public health experts has called for the release of all clinical drug trial results for independent analysis following a “frustrating” three-year battle for access to data on controversial flu…