TOKYO (AP)--The deaths of two elderly Japanese might be linked to the antiviral drug Tamiflu - used to treat flu victims, including those with bird flu - the country's Health Ministry said Friday.
A man in his fifties died from toxic epidermal necrosis in 2005, while another in his eighties died from kidney failure in 2004, both after taking the drug, ministry spokesman Shinichi Watanabe said.
Because both men took various other drugs before their deaths, it was impossible to say for sure that Tamiflu killed them, he said.
"But specialists consulted by the ministry have said Tamiflu can't be ruled out" in the deaths, he said.
Officials at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. (4519.TO), the distributor of the drug in Japan, were not immediately available for comment.
The ministry planned to release information about the two men on its Web site, and urge users of Tamiflu to report to a doctor immediately if flu symptoms worsen after taking the drug, Watanabe said.
Earlier this month, a Japanese society of pediatricians said that no clear link had been found between Tamiflu and the deaths of 12 children in the country, which were initially suspected to be connected to the drug.
The society's findings came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also concluded that Tamiflu was not connected to the deaths.
Tamiflu is one of the few drugs believed to be effective in treating human cases of flu caused by the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has killed at least 71 people across Asia since 2003.
Health officials fear the virus could spark a pandemic if it mutates into a form easily passed from human to human.