According to new studies by U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials, the prescription diabetes medication Avandia poses a serious threat to users as it has been linked to heart attacks. Because of this new information – as well as a variety of other reports dating back to 2007 – the people behind the studies are urging GlaxoSmithKline to discontinue marketing and sales of this popular medication.
Since last year, GSK has been performing and sponsoring a study known as TIDE, which was required by the FDA and is comparing the relationship between Avandia and heart attacks with similar type 2 diabetes medication. TIDE has previously been approved by an independent review board, however the people behind the latest study, including aides for two members of the Senate Finance Committee, are saying that the TIDE study will only put more consumers in harm’s way.
Led by the Senate Finance Committee’s Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Montana’s Max Baucus, this newest study asserts that even by comparing Avandia to a competitive drug like Actos, it would still be unethical. GSK, however, maintains that a previous study of more than 50,000 patients taking Avandia showed very little evidence of the diabetes medication acting as a catalyst to heart attacks.
In 2007, the FDA formed a committee of medical professionals to determine two things – should Avandia stay on the market and is it detrimental to the heart. The committee voted for Avandia to remain available to diabetics, but the committee also voted overwhelmingly that the medicine causes a higher chance for heart attacks. That year, GSK also added a black box label to Avandia, expressing that the drug could cause congestive heart failure or cause complications in patients with previous heart problems.
Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steve Nissen first raised the curtain on Avandia’s side effects in 2007 when he released a report in the New England Journal of Medicine regarding the drug’s relationship to heart failure. Nissen found that Avandia users had a 43 percent greater chance of suffering a heart attack. GSK publicly denied the findings, however it was later revealed that the company’s own scientists had discovered similar percentages in their studies.
If you or a loved one has experienced serious side effects, a heart attack or other health complications from using Avandia, contact Newsome Law Firm and fill out a case evaluation form today. Our team of attorneys has experience specific to complications associated with prescription medication. Not only can they give you the legal guidance you need, they can help you get the compensation you deserve.