Word: japanized
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...common is that each victim took the influenza antiviral Tamiflu shortly before they died. According to the Japanese Health Ministry, 54 people have died after taking Tamiflu - the drug governments around the world have stockpiled for use against avian flu - since the drug was approved for use in Japan in 2000. Most suspiciously, in multiple cases people, including those cases above, acted erratically after taking Tamiflu. Though the Health Ministry has said there is no clear evidence linking Tamiflu to the deaths, there is growing concern among doctors and parents in Japan over the drug's possible side effects. That...
...anti-Tamiflu forces in Japan are led by Dr. Rokuro Hama, an epidemiologist and internal medicine specialist who heads the Japan Institute of Pharmacovigilance, a medical industry watchdog. Hama believes that Tamiflu can directly cause temporary neurological disorders in a small percentage of users - especially young people. That can lead to abnormal behavior, such as a seemingly happy, healthy teenager suddenly deciding to leap off a high-rise apartment building. Hama also notes that the Tamiflu doses taken in Japan can be as much as 10 times greater than the normal amount taken in the U.S., which could aggravate...
...according to the Japanese Health Ministry - and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) - the side effects that Hama has seen are more likely caused by influenza itself. In rare juvenile cases influenza can cause brain inflammation - encephalitis - that can lead to neuropsychiatric events. In fact, it was in Japan in the mid-1990s that pediatricians first began reporting such cases, which led to intense nationwide surveillance of pediatric influenza...
...taken far more often here than in any other country; Japanese doctors prescribed the drug 24.5 million times between 2001 and 2005,compared to just 6.5 million prescriptions in the U.S.) Cases that included neurological side effects seemed to spike at the same time that Tamiflu prescriptions rose in Japan. Nevertheless, it is possible that the side effects accompanied the disease and that more such extreme cases were seen because doctors were looking harder...
...Japan's proverbial reputation as an easy target for promoters is not, to be fair, entirely deserved. One of the great pleasures of being based in Tokyo is the fact that you can catch a great cutting-edge international rock, hip-hop or electronic music act on any given weekend. Japan practically keeps jazz alive, with legendary performers playing most weeks at clubs like Tokyo's Blue Note - provided you're willing to mortgage your house to pay the admission. So, if the same country that turns out for the likes of Bloc Party also keeps Michael Jackson's career...