Avandia: The Diabetes Drug That Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good
Here's a disturbing statistic: About 70 per cent of all diabetes patients will eventually succumb to heart disease. So how would you describe a diabetes drug that increases cardiovascular risk?
One word: Unacceptable.
That was the word Dr. Graham a drug safety scientist, and a rare ray of light in the dark hole otherwise known as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used to describe Avandia when he appeared before an FDA panel last week.
In 2003, HSI first reported on an association between Avandia and an increased risk of congestive heart failure. More recently, I told you about a New England Journal of Medicine study that reviewed more than 40 Avandia trials and found the drug to be linked to a significant increase in the risk of heart attack.
Dr. Graham told the Associated Press that keeping Avandia on the market 'makes no medical sense and violated the principle taught us all in medical schoolFirst, do no harm.' He added: 'A wrong decision will cost thousands of lives.'
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