“We have very rigid standards for when doctors use the drug,” Muramoto said

The drug, Iressa, was administered only to those patients who did not respond to other treatments and whose cancer was at a very advanced stage, said Fumiko Muramoto, a spokeswoman for the pharmaceutical company.

천안출장샵 and Welfare Ministry issued a warning about potential side effects, which it said were linked to 124 deaths.

AstraZeneca issued a safety warning to doctors in October after the company received reports of severe side effects causing debilitating lung injuries.

The company said in October that Iressa’s side effects had led to 39 deaths. But Muramoto said Thursday that a definitive link had not been proven, although it could not be ruled out.

Early studies showed lung cancer patients who had not been helped by other therapy recovered impressively after taking the drug.

AstraZeneca began offering Gefitinib free of charge to physicians at 89 clinics and hospitals for 286 patients in Japan in December 2000, the Asahi newspaper reported.

Although pharmaceutical companies aren’t allowed to sell unapproved drugs in Japan, they can supply experimental drugs to doctors who request them for their own patients.

The doctors had agreed to take responsibility for prescribing it to their patients, Muramoto said.

Worldwide, about 22,000 people have used the drug, the Asahi newspaper said. Japan is the only country where it has been approved by federal health authorities.