Avandia Drug Recall

Avandia produced by GlaxoSmithKline, is an oral diabetes medication intended to help those with type-2 diabetes better control their blood glucose levels. Generically classified as a thiazoliodinedione, Avandia is not indicated for those with insulin-dependent (type-1) diabetes.

FDA scientists estimated in July 2007 that Avandia was associated with approximately 83,000 heart attacks since the drug came to market.

Unfortunately, since its release in 1999, Avandia drug has been shown to increase patients’ risk of developing the following, potentially fatal side effects:

• congestive heart failure
• heart attack
• pulmonary embolism (a condition in which blood clots congest the lungs and impede breathing)
• stroke

Other serious, non-fatal Avandia side effects include bone fractures (namely in the hands and feet) and pulmonary hypertension (increased blood pressure in the lungs’ arteries).

In 2007, an FDA panel recommended by a vote of 22-1 that Avandia should remain on the market despite an analysis showing links to increased risk of heart attack. The vote was not binding, but a suggestion to FDA regulators.

The panel also voted 20-3 at the same meeting in support of data that showed Avandia increased the risk of cardiac ischemia in patients with the most common type of diabetes.