Evidence continues to build against Avandia
Despite multiple studies proving the drug is dangerous and countless lawsuits in which people claim they were harmed from taking the drug, the FDA continues to allow Avandia to be prescribed.
New research published this week backs Public Citizen’s 2008 petition to the FDA to remove Avandia from the market.
According to the Washington Post:
One analysis, involving more than 35,500 people, found that Avandia significantly raises the chances of a heart attack. The second, a federal analysis of more than 227,500 Medicare patients — the largest such study to date — found that the drug boosts the risk for strokes, heart failure and death.
However the new research still has not stopped drug maker GlaxoSmithKline from claiming that its drug is safe. Yet earlier this week a Senate investigation concluded GlaxoSmithKline has known about the possible risks from Avandia – yet they never filed it with the FDA.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, said allowing Avandia to remain on the market runs counter to what top FDA officials have said about putting the public’s health first.
Every month that the FDA fails to get the drug withdrawn from the market means that an additional 150,000 to 200,000 prescriptions will be filled in this country, needlessly exposing people to the increased risk of stroke, heart failure and heart attacks.
An unpublished FDA study indicated that 48,000 heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems in the elderly between 1999 and 2009 could have been prevented if the patients had taken other medications instead of the controversial diabetes drug Avandia.
So how much longer will this drug be in the market?!