I am concerned that the BMJ is conflating the Tamiflu RCT data with their admirable aim of supporting open access to all trials data. The potential benefits of early treatment of influenza have become the first casualty in this "political" war, and I am afraid that patients who are eligible for treatment will wrongly be denied treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors as a result, to their significant potential detriment.
Those who are genuinely interested in considering evidence from all sources should read what the CDC have announced following publication of the Cochrane review (1). It clearly indicates the role that these drugs have in reducing mortality in severe influenza.
Rapid Response:
Re: The Tamiflu trials
I am concerned that the BMJ is conflating the Tamiflu RCT data with their admirable aim of supporting open access to all trials data. The potential benefits of early treatment of influenza have become the first casualty in this "political" war, and I am afraid that patients who are eligible for treatment will wrongly be denied treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors as a result, to their significant potential detriment.
Those who are genuinely interested in considering evidence from all sources should read what the CDC have announced following publication of the Cochrane review (1). It clearly indicates the role that these drugs have in reducing mortality in severe influenza.
1. http://www.cdc.gov/media/haveyouheard/stories/Influenza_antiviral2.html
Competing interests: No competing interests