The Story of Influenza Antivirals: Part 26

Controversies in the media and their effect

While the BMJ and Channel 4 had done their job creating pressure in the UK. There were growing concerns that millions had been wasted on the “flu drug”. The BBC reported, "Hundreds of millions of pounds may have been wasted on a drug for flu that works no better than paracetamol, " a landmark analysis has said.

There was also more comprehensive international pressure being applied. In the New York Review, a Visiting Professor of Human Rights and Global Public Health in the US, Helen Epstein, provided a flu warning: “Beware the Drug Companies!” 

“The billions wasted on the H1N1 pandemic by the US government alone exceed the entire $3.2 billion annual budget of the FDA.” 

Peter and Tom wrote an op-ed in the New York Times that Drug Data Shouldn’t Be Secret.

“Nevertheless, the data point to a drug of minimal benefit. In accordance with the F.D.A.’s findings, it appears to shave a day off the duration of influenza symptoms, but we found no decrease in risk of hospitalization and no evidence t…