If you're not at special risk, you probably don't need anti-flu medication.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—A recent review and meta-analysis of 20 trial studies suggests that taking the prescription drug Tamiflu (generic name, oseltamivir) for preventing and treating seasonal flu has little or no positive effect in otherwise healthy adults. While this analysis did not look at the antiviral drugs' affect on the swine-flu virus, it does raise questions regarding the global rush to spend billions of dollars to stockpile antiviral drugs to deal with the H1N1 pandemic. The review and accompanying editorials appear in the British Medical Journal.

THE DETAILS: Neuraminidase inhibitors, including antiviral medicines sold under the brand names Relenza and Tamiflu, and the generic name oseltamivir, were found to have just modest effects on reducing flu symptoms in healthy adults, shaving off one day of suffering. As for limiting complications like pneumonia and other lower-respiratory tract infections, in otherwise health adults, the Italian, Australian, and American researchers combing through the 20 trials found insufficient evidence to back claims that these flu-treatment drugs actually helped to prevent them. The reviewers found that a much-cited analysis touting the benefits of the drugs included 10 trials sponsored by the Tamiflu drug maker Roche. Only two of the industry-sponsored studies were published in scientific, peer-reviewed medical journals, and when Roche refused to disclose the details of the other eight unpublished studies, the reviewers said they could not back the previous claims that the drug is beneficial in reducing complications. Roche employees and paid academic consultants conducted all 10 trials.