This week, the US Food and Drug Administration told patients that despite reports affirming that taking Avandia can increase the chances that the user may have a heart attack, it is important that patients continue to use the drug until they've sought the advice of a personal physician. Thousands of people take Avandia to treat Type 2 diabetes.
Over the weekend, US Senators Charles Grassley and Max Baucus released a report accusing pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline of knowing for years about the heart attack risk even before a 2007 study in the New England Journal of Medicine reported this dangerous side effect. The FDA even recommended in 2008 that Glaxo take Avandia off the market because the drug was causing about 500 heart attacks and 300 heart failure incidents a month.
Grassley and Baucus note in their report that despite Glaxo's duty to warn patients and the FDA about this unfortunate cardiovascular risk, the company instead tried to misrepresent or minimize the findings while intimidating independent doctors. However, Glaxo claims that the congressional report is incomplete.
Dangerous Drugs
If there is a possibility that your loved one's heart attack, injury, or illness was caused by taking medication, you may have grounds for filing an Orange County, California dangerous drug lawsuit against the pharmaceutical company that made the drug. Over-the-counter and prescription medications are supposed to improve patient health and/or alleviate pain. They aren't supposed to hurt you, make you sick, or kill you.
Our Orange County, California products liability lawyers are committed to making sure that victims of negligent manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are compensated for the harm that they have suffered because of a dangerous drug or another defective products.
Diabetes patients should not stop taking Avandia, FDA says, USA Today, February 22, 2010
Research Ties Diabetes Drug to Heart Woes, NY Times, February 20, 2010
Glaxo Knew Avandia Caused Heart Risk, Report Says (Update1), BusinessWeek, February 20, 2010
Related Web Resources:
6 Things You Should Know About Avandia, US News & World Report, February 25, 2010
Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline
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