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Reports of hallucinations, suicide raise fears over Tamiflu side effects

Cleveland 5 News  news5cleveland.com

By: Corrina Pysa
Posted at 4:52 PM, Feb 07, 2018
and last updated 10:07 PM, Feb 07, 2018

At the height of this season’s flu epidemic, there are now growing concerns about a medicine widely used to treat the flu.

Parents across the country are reporting their children started hallucinating after taking Tamiflu. One family is even blaming their son's suicide on the medication.

A family in Indiana said their daughter was hearing voices and saw bugs on her body after starting Tamiflu.

In Texas, parents said the medication made their 2-year-old hallucinate. Another couple said their 6-year-old daughter tried to jump out her bedroom window while on Tamiflu.

“Tamiflu, like any medication, has potential side effects,” explained Dr. Amy Edwards, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital.

Among them: "neuropsychiatric" side effects.

“She was about to jump out the window when my wife came up and grabbed her,” recalled the girl’s father, who wanted to stay anonymous.

And less than 24 hours after starting Tamiflu, Indiana teen Charlie Harp committed suicide. His family is adamant the medication is to blame.

"Had I known this was an issue, I would've never given it to him," remarked Jackie Ray, Harp's aunt and guardian.

“We are seeing the side effects more this year than we've seen it in previous years, but that's just because the total number of kids taking the medication has gone up, not because there's something wrong with the medicine itself,” cautioned Dr. Edwards.

She said such dramatic side effects are extremely rare, occurring in less than one percent of pediatric patients [sic].