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[See how it works, they have ramp up the scare so they can declare an emergency to flog the drugs.]
FDA allows uncleared uses of flu drugs, tests
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/28/eline/links/20090428elin009.html
Last Updated: 2009-04-28 10:16:32 -0400 (Reuters Health)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized
emergency uses of the flu drugs Tamiflu and Relenza on Monday and a diagnostic
test to help get a grip on a new strain of swine flu, the agency said on Monday.
The U.S. government's declaration on Sunday that the swine flu is a public
health emergency freed the FDA to take such action, the agency said in a
statement.
The FDA will now have the authority to allow public health and medical
personnel to prescribe Relenza, GlaxoSmithKline's inhaled flu drug also known as
zanamivir, and Roche AG's Tamiflu, a pill also known as oseltamivir, for
unapproved uses.
Tamiflu, approved for treating and preventing the flu in people over a year old,
can now be used in children under 1 year. Doctors can also change the
recommended dosage for children older than 1 year under the emergency use
authorization.
The FDA also gave more healthcare workers authority to distribute Tamiflu and
Relenza, including some public health officials and volunteers.
More than 40 people have been sickened by the new flu strain in the United
States.
The rRT-PCR Swine Flu Panel diagnostic test was authorized for testing samples
from flu patients to determine if they have the new strain.
A positive finding will presumptively conclude that the patient has the new,
previously unseen strain of H1N1 swine flu. But a negative result will not be
considered conclusive that a patient does not have the virus, the agency said.