Avandia Lawsuits
In May of 2007, the New England Journal of Medicine published the startling news that Avandia, a popular drug designed to control Type II Diabetes, substantially increases patients’ risk of serious heart problems.
The study found that patients taking Avandia increased their risks of heart attacks by 43 percent in their risk of death from heart disease by up to 64 percent. This news is especially disturbing because diabetes itself already raises its victims’ risk of serious heart disease substantially. Two of three diabetics die of cardiovascular problems, according to the American Diabetes Association. According to a report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Avandia has caused at least 83,000 “excess” heart attacks since it entered the market.
In response to the Journal’s report, the FDA ordered GlaxoSmithKline, Avandia’s manufacturer, to include a “black box” safety warning on the drug’s label. The FDA did not order a recall, nor did GlaxoSmithKline recall Avandia voluntarily. However, the FDA’s May 2007 safety warning said GlaxoSmithKline’s own analysis — provided only after the Journal’s report — found that Avandia raised patients’ risk of heart attack by 30 to 40 percent.
Even worse, evidence is growing that Avandia’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, knew for years that its drug could cause health problems, but covered up the information in the name of profit. Congressional hearings on Avandia have revealed that the drug’s manufacturer threatened to sue a diabetes expert, Dr. John Buse, after his remarks on the drug’s association with heart problems caused their stock to slide. That was 1999, the first year that Avandia was available in the United States; Dr. Buse sent more information to the FDA in 2000, but the agency took no action until 2007. Meanwhile, Avandia worldwide sales were in the billions each year, and doctors prescribed the drug to at least one million Americans.
Call the Yankowitz Law Firm at 1-800-LAW-3333 if you or a loved one has taken AVANDIA, AVANDARYL, or AVANDAMET and suffered
- a heart attack
- congestive heart failure
- primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH)
- death
E-mail or speak directly to Attorney Jack Yankowitz and learn how we can help you obtain the justice and financial compensation you and your family deserve. Call the Yankowitz Law Firm at 1-800-LAW-3333 to file an Avandia Lawsuit.
New Scientific Studies Show Further Evidence of Avandia Dangers
Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) is about to suffer more setbacks in the ongoing battle of opinions concerning the safety of its much touted diabetes drug Avandia©. The American Diabetes Association has accepted for publication in its prestigious medical journal, Diabetes Care, a study by Harvard researchers that shows users of the Diabetes drug Avandia© have more than double the risk of a heart attack compared to other diabetes drugs. Further, a jointly sponsored study both GlaxoSmithKline and i3 Drug Safety, an independent drug-safety firm, will appear in the journal Clinical Therapeutics showing that Avandia users have a 35-41% increased risk of a heart attack over users of Actos©, Avandia’s main competitor.
These findings are the latest in a series of published studies that indicate Avandia users are at an unacceptably increased risk of a heart attack. In 2007, the Food and Drug Administration required a “Black Box” warning be added to Avandia’s label about the heart risks associated with the drug, but allowed the product to remain on the market even though numerous Endocrinologists and other diabetes experts called for its removal from the market like other ill-fated drugs like Vioxx and Rezulin.
Call Yankowitz Law Firm at 1-800-LAW-3333 to protect your legal rights and obtain the justice and financial compensation you and your family deserve.
