Avandia Lawyers

A Look at the History of Problems with Avandia

Avandia is a drug that's been used to help patients with type 2 diabetes, and it's manufactured by the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. Avandia hit the market with a high degree of promise, and its primary role was to work within an overall treatment protocol designed to keep patients' blood sugar levels under control.

Generally, Avandia was prescribed by doctors and used in conjunction with a strict program of exercise and a healthy diet, all of which combined to maintain a proper blood sugar level and to ease the discomfort and ancillary health risks that were often associated with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes, if managed properly, will generally not prevent patients from living long and productive lives.

However, recent events have led to a high degree of scrutiny being focused on Avandia, and doctors and Avandia lawyers across the country are beginning to take notice as more patients who have suffered as a result of taking this medication emerge. Below is a look at the history of problems Avandia has encountered and that have been reported by the FDA.

February 20, 2007

On this date, the FDA reported on its Web site that GlaxoSmithKline had issued a communication to healthcare professionals the results of a randomized statistical study of Avandia and those who were using it. Specifically, the FDA's Web site stated that, "Significantly more female patients who received rosiglitazone experienced fractures of the upper arm, hand, or foot, than did female patients who received either metformin or glyburide." As a result, GlaxoSmithKline warned healthcare providers to consider the risks of Avandia before prescribing it.

May 21, 2007

The FDA issued a safety alert regarding Avandia, and the letter published on its Web site stated that, "safety data from controlled clinical trials have shown that there is a potentially significant increase in the risk of heart attack and heart-related deaths in patients taking Avandia." However, the FDA also stated that other ongoing and unpublished studies showed a preliminary contradiction with the initial data.

Regardless, the risk of cardiovascular events and the serious consequences that result from any heart problem led the FDA to report this problem and to issue this warning. Statistically, studies showed an increase of risk of heart problems by a factor of 30 - 40% for those patients who were taking Avandia to suffer from heart problems.

What's Next?

In terms of what's next for you, the first thing you need to do is contact your doctor for a full evaluation if you've been taking Avandia. Secondly, if you've been injured as a result of taking this drug, you should also contact the Avandia lawyers at Williams Kherkher for a free initial consultation.