Tamiflu news from FierceHealthcare

The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) is taking pharmacy benefit managers to the woodshed, upset with policies that seem to hold up claims for materials needed to create the liquid... Read more...

Not a day goes by without some fear that the H1N1 vaccine will remain out of reach for too many, too long. Now, it's the children's dose of liquid Tamiflu that has parents scouring pharmacies,... Read more...

It's good to know that antiviral medications are there to help if the H1N1 virus infection rates proves more rapid than expected. On the other hand, overusing antiviral drugs can lead to other... Read more...

In the past, medical officials have advised patients that one major weapon against the onset of the flu season was flu medicine Tamiflu. However, it now looks like Tamiflu is going to be something of... Read more...

> Hoping to get another shot at collecting their money, hospitals are auctioning off patient debt via online auctions. Read more...

If Roche has its way, a gaggle of happy penguins will charm consumers into stocking up on flu drug Tamiflu. Using penguin characters from a current children's feature as a theme, Roche Pharmaceuticals has developed a multi-million dollar ad campaign to create demand for the costly medication. Tamiflu, which has attracted international attention as a possible stopgap in the war against …

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> The Financial Times reports that the heads of GM, Ford and Chrysler have been unsuccessfully attempting to arrange a meeting with President Bush since before the last election. Article

> FierceHealthcare editor Matthew Holt was at the fabled PARC Research Center last week to deliver a talk on "Healthcare, IT and why your doc may be stuck in the 90s...the 1890s."  …

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The World Health Organization said that a cluster of bird flu deaths in the village of Kabu Sebalang on the Indonesian island of Sumatra is a potentially seminal event. The Associated Press quotes WHO spokesman Peter Cordingsly, who alarmingly calls the six deaths "the mother of all clusters." Cordingsly state, "This is the first time that we've been completely stumped about possible single-source infection."

International health experts suspect that H5N1, the virus that …

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 Bush administration orders antiviral drugs
The Department of Health and Human Services has ordered 14 million doses of antiviral drugs to treat victims in the event of a pandemic flu. The agency said yesterday that it has placed orders for 12.4 million doses of Tamiflu and 1.75 million doses of Relenza. The purchase will add to the existing stockpile of 5.5 million doses. The announcement drew criticism from Democrats in Washington, who say the government isn't acting quickly enough. Article

A new study raises doubts about the effectiveness of major flu drugs, particularly those being stockpiled to fight an avian flu outbreak. The report, which appears in the British medical journal The Lancet today, argues that the older generation of influenza drugs (rimantadine and amantadine) has largely lost its effectiveness. Lead author Dr. Tom Jefferson warns that newer drugs like Tamiflu and Relenza are likely to become less useful if they are used to fight seasonal …

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