Researchers, regulators and Roche row over stockpiled drug Tamiflu

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers who have fought for years to get full data on Roche's flu medicine Tamiflu said on Thursday that governments who stockpile it are wasting billions of dollars on a drug whose effectiveness is in doubt. The row has drawn in the drugmaker as well as industry regulators and independent scientists. Supporters of Tamiflu said the researchers' conclusions were flawed and insisted the drug is both safe and effective. The dispute over the benefits of Tamiflu, and to a lesser extent of GlaxoSmithKline's flu drug Relenza, blew up with the joint publication by the respected Cochrane Review research network and the British Medical Journal of an analysis of trial data, which found no good evidence behind claims the drugs cut hospital admissions or reduce flu complications.



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