13 patients were dead in Japan with side effects of Iressa

AstraZeneca's Iressa, which was first approved on July 16, 2002, by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, was reported to cause severe side effects, such as, interstitial pneumonia and 13 patients in Japan were dead.

The MHLW issued its "urgent safety information" on October 16 and called for AstraZeneca to cautio...