Researchers Question Tamiflu Review

Critics claim updated analysis of antiviral medication was statistically weak and based on unreliable randomized clinical trial data.

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

WIKIMEDIA, ANDREW WALESIn an updated review on the efficacy of the antiviral medication Tamiflu published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) earlier this month (April 10), members of the Cochrane Collaboration and their colleagues concluded that stockpiling the treatment, as many governments have, is a waste of money. But some researchers are now beginning to question the main conclusions of the report, as well as statements of BMJ editorials and press materials that accompanied it.

Jonathan Nguyen-Van-Tam from the U.K.’s University of Nottingham and public-health group PRIDE Consortium is one researcher who criticized the Cochrane analysis and BMJ’s media relations practices. He was an author of a recent meta-analysis published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine that found neuraminidase inhibitors like Tamiflu to be effective in reducing mortality in hospital-admitted H1N1 patients—a study that authors of the Cochrane review told a BMJ reporter was “flawed.”

And Nguyen-Van-Tam isn’t the only one. Other researchers have pointed out that the analyses were based on randomized clinical trial data and could “lack sufficient statistical power to allow reliable conclusions to be drawn about the effects on flu complications and hospitalizations,” Nature News reported.

Based on reactions to the latest report, “we risk losing one ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Tracy Vence

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

Enhancing Therapeutic Antibody Discovery with Cross-Platform Workflows

sartorius logo
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo

Products

Photo of a researcher overseeing large scale production processes in a laboratory.

Scaling Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing for Optimal Productivity

Thermo Fisher Logo
Collage-style urban graphic of wastewater surveillance and treatment

Putting Pathogens to the Test with Wastewater Surveillance

An illustration of an mRNA molecule in front of a multicolored background.

Generating High-Quality mRNA for In Vivo Delivery with lipid nanoparticles

Thermo Fisher Logo
Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide