The WHO correspondence begins with an email from Cochrane Collaboration researcher Tom Jefferson in February 2012. He asks WHO scientists how its review process had led to it including oseltamivir in its March 2011 Essential Medicines List.

Had it asked the manufacturers of neuramindase inhibitors for the unpublished trial data? Also, what had WHO scientists made of Cochrane’s conclusion "that there is no evidence that oseltamivir can limit the spread of influenza." The WHO told Jefferson that it was currently developing a standard guideline on clinical management of influenza virus infection. Secondly, it had commissioned several evidence reviews, including one on oseltamivir that was set to appear soon in a peer reviewed medical journal.