Avandia dodged the FDA recall bullet in 2007 when the New England Journal of Medicine published a study that said Avandia increased a diabetic’s risk of heart disease by 43 percent. Diabetics are already at risk for heart disease. At that time, the FDA failed to make GlaxoSmithKline take Avandia off the market but instead added a “black box” safety warning saying that Avandia increases the risk of heart disease and heart failure.
Now 2 1/2 years later, two more studies point to Avandia’s increased heart attack dangers.
A co-sponsored study by i3 Drug Safety, an independent drug-safety firm and GlaxoSmithKline demonstrates that Avandia users have a 35 to 41% increased risk of a heart attack over users of Actos, Avandia’s main competitor. The GlaxoSmithKline-i3 study analyzed health-insurance data from July of 2000 through March of 2007 for 2 groups of 47,501 subjects each; one group using Avandia and the other Actos.
In a Harvard study, researchers found that Avandia more than doubles the risk of heart attack as compared to other diabetes drugs like Actos, Glucotrol, Tolazamide, Glucophage and other similar brands. The Harvard study is published in Diabetes Care, a renowned American Diabetes Association medical publication. The study demonstrates that Avandia more than doubles the risk of heart attack compared to other diabetes drugs.
The Harvard researchers analyzed clinical care data taken from the electronic medical records of patients at several Boston area hospitals and clinics associated with Harvard Medical School. The researchers chose Avandia to confirm their methodology because of its known “…relative adverse cardiovascular risk profile…”
With all this new research, how will the FDA and GlaxoSmithKline dodge bullets about all the evidence pointing to increased heart attack risks for people taking Avandia diabetes drugs?
Avandia Lawsuits
Thousands of people are filing Avandia lawsuits in New Jersey against GlaxoSmithKline. What are your legal options? Find out how you can put the makers of Avandia on the firing line.
