Sufferes of diabetes thought they found a golden ticket in Avandia. Backed with big bucks’ promotion and relentless advertising, Avandia appeared to be a friend to people with diabetes. Sold as a diabetes management drug, Avandia was pushed on websites like diabetes.com and diabetesmanagment.com, which are sites owned by their maker, GlaxoSmithKline. The sales skyrocketed and doctors across the country prescribed Avandia to millions. Yet Advandia wasn’t all it appeared to be. Two years of investigations and questions about the drug quietly simmered in the background. GlaxoSmithKline has seen its stock drop this week and the Food and Drug Administration has called for an advisory committee to meet in July to discuss the safety of Avandia. So what happened to the diabetes wonder drug?
The short answer is that GSK and the FDA have conflicting reports to just how dangerous Advandia can be. The FDA is under fire for allowing clinical trials of the drug after scientists concluded that Avandia had caused over 80,000 heart attacks from 1999 to 2007, while GSK insists that the proper clinical trials have proven that Avandia is safe. A Senate committee is currently probing the British pharmaceutical company as well. Until the FDA’s committee findings however, the agency has informed patients currently using the drug to continue to do so unless their doctors advise them to stop.
Consumer advocates and legal experts however are advising that questions be asked and that the responsible parties be held accountable for a drug that could potentially cause heart attacks. Lawsuits involving wrongful death and injury regarding Avandia have been popping up in courthouse across the country for the past few years. While the committees continue to meet and the drug companies continue to battle with the FDA, lives of patients hang in the balance. In short, anything promising to be a wonder drug should be approached cautiously.
Related Information: California Pharmaceutical Liability Attorney
