The California Injury Attorney Blog has kept our readers posted on the heart-related dangers associated with the diabetes drug, Avandia. Last week, after months of anticipation, the FDA advisory panel convened to provide its conclusions on the RECORD study, funded by the drug's manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. The panel's recommendations move on to the FDA.
The public has needed clarity on this for some time now, but they did not get it from the advisory panel's recommendation to the FDA. Although the Advisory Panel did not pull the drug from the market, the debate was heated and the vote interesting as 17 members voted to keep the drug on the market but want new restrictions, three said nothing needs to be added to the warnings, and 12 sought a recall of the drug from the market.
Avandia's competing drug Actos does not appear to have the same level of cardiovascular risk associated with it. At least that is what the scientific community is saying at the moment.
The New York Times has reported that the drug's manufacturer has spent a great deal of effort over the past decade pushing back the safety issues with regard to Avandia. One recent editorial in the courier-journal.com, calls this "intolerable' and also calls for the FDA to "represent and demand transparency."
So after three years of consistent erosion to the safety data on this drug, doctors can still prescribe it and diabetes patients can still use it. And, some of those patients will suffer injury because they are taking the drug.
The panel's call for additional label warnings is not much help to the public in deciding how to deal with diabetes treatment. Cleveland Clinic's Chief Cardiologist says the additional warnings will eliminate "95%" of the drug's use, but in the end it is up to the FDA to decide whether to adopt the panel's recommendation and until then, the medical community and diabetes patients and their families must carefully weigh the documented risks in taking this medication.
For more information on Avandia and its risks, please visit hershlaw.com. If you are a diabetes patient and have suffered a cardiac event while taking Avandia, please contact Hersh & Hersh to speak directly with a lawyer about your situation. We will provide a free evaluation of your rights to recover for your injuries.
