# 3605
Two articles tonight from the UK’s Independent, which looks at the staggering number of Tamiflu prescriptions that have been given out by their NHS Swine Flu Hotline over the past week and asks whether or not substantial abuse of the system isn’t going on.
Tens of thousands 'fake swine flu symptoms' to stock up on Tamiflu
Supply of antiviral drugs dwarfs numbers who have contracted disease
By Steve Connor and Lewis Smith
Monday, 10 August 2009
Tens of thousands of people have faked swine flu symptoms to persuade the NHS to issue them with antiviral drugs, government data suggests.
The number of people given Tamiflu is seven times higher than the number suffering the virus, with official figures showing there were 30,000 new cases of swine flu in the week up to 4 August, yet 30,000 doses of the drug were given out on average each day for the same period.
It is feared that – unless the Government has seriously underestimated the scale of the epidemic – many of those prescribed Tamiflu are stockpiling it to be sure of having access to the powerful drug if and when they or members of their family contract the illness.
Others are thought to be using the service to get themselves signed off sick for seven days, rather than having to go to work, and in some cases it is suspected the prescriptions are being sold. The data supports concerns that controls against misuse of the drug – which can have serious side-effects – are ineffective. Patients wanting the antiviral drug simply have to contact the National Pandemic Flu Service and provide – or fake – a few basic details about their symptoms on the phone or over the internet.
And this opinion piece, which builds on the information from the above article.
Leading article: This abuse of Tamiflu is dangerous for all of us
We risk undermining our collective ability to cope with swine flu
Monday, 10 August 2009
Our report today revealing that tens of thousands more people are likely to have received the antiviral drug Tamiflu than actually have swine flu should be a cause for concern for both the health authorities and also the wider public. This over-prescription is obviously a waste of National Health Service resources. But more damaging are the potential medical and social costs of a large number of people taking the antiviral drug when they show no symptoms of the illness.
Tamiflu is not, of course, a cure for swine flu. The drug inhibits the spread of the virus through the body and makes it less likely that the patient will transmit it to others. While we wait for a vaccine to be developed, it is one of our few defences against its spread.
Medical researchers have long warned of the danger that the mass prescription of antivirals could result in the swine flu virus becoming resistant to the drugs. If a large number of people without symptoms take them now we could be weakening our collective ability to deal with a future wave of the swine flu virus.
Many of these issues I addressed more than a week ago in UK: 150,000 Rx For Antivirals In A Week. Since then, the amount of Tamiflu being handed out has apparently not declined, and it may very well have gone up.
As I stated in my blog of a week ago:
Politically, I’m sure it is very difficult for the NHS to deny hot line callers antivirals when A) they have them stockpiled and B) GPs are overwhelmed and cannot guarantee to see and evaluate patients during the critical first 24-48 hours of an illness.
All it would take to undermine public confidence in the NHS’s pandemic plans would be for someone to be denied antivirals who really needed them, and for them to come to a bad end.
The tabloids would have a field day with that kind of story.
Difficult questions, and no easy answers.
And issues that the US, and other countries are going to have to wrestle with over the next few months as well.
