CHICAGO - Amid worries about bird flu, demand for a flu medicine is so extreme that the drug's maker has stopped shipping it to private U.S. suppliers just as consumers fret over whether they should try to stock up on the drug.
Tamiflu, a prescription drug designed to treat regular flu, is running scarce because of worries the bird flu in Asia might morph into a contagious human flu that circles the globe.
Tamiflu's maker, Roche Holding AG in Switzerland, said Thursday it was temporarily suspending U.S. shipments because of increased global demand. Company officials have previously said they are limiting supplies to pharmacies to thwart hoarding.
But there are signs that is happening.
"We've seen recently some very large purchases at the wholesale level, companies or large entities who are possibly hoarding Tamiflu right now," said Darien Wilson, a spokeswoman at Roche's U.S. offices in Nutley, N.J.
Prescriptions for the drug last week were nearly quadruple what they were a year before, according to Verispan, a Pennsylvania company that monitors pharmacy sales. Some health departments and doctors groups are urging consumers, doctors and even school districts not to stockpile the drug.
And this winter's flu season hasn't even started yet.
"The priority is that there is enough Tamiflu for the people who need it at the start of the influenza season," said Roche spokesman Alexander Klauser. "At the moment, there is no influenza currently circulating."
Meanwhile, the U.S. government isn't giving advice on whether people should have a stash of Tamiflu, just in case bird flu triggers a human pandemic.
"Those are questions that are under discussion," said Christina Pearson, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department. "Right now we're focused on the seasonal flu."
Bird flu has killed more than 60 people over the past two years.
