S. Korean teenager says experienced hallucinations after taking Tamiflu

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SEOUL, Nov. 14 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean teenager discovered unconscious outside
his family's apartment west of Seoul allegedly experienced hallucinations after
taking the anti-viral drug Tamiflu, the country's drug safety watchdog said
Saturday.
According to the Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA), the 14-year-old
student was found unconscious on October 30 lying beneath the front door of his
family's apartment building in Bucheon with serious fractures on his leg and
arms.
Authorities say it remains unclear whether the boy fell from the sixth-floor
window of his home or whether he fell down the stairs. He reportedly returned
from the hospital earlier that day, where he had been prescribed the medication
to help fight a high fever.
The student claims to have no memory of how he incurred the injuries, and says
that he experienced hallucinations after being given the medication.
An official at the KFDA said that if true, the case would mark "the first time
that hallucinations have been reported as a side effect of the medicine."
He added that an investigation would be conducted to "figure out if there are any
links between the drug and the case."
Local authorities have so far only received reports of such adverse reactions to
the drug Tamiflu as nausea and vomiting.
sam@yna.co.kr
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