In the month following reports that the Type 2 diabetes drug, Avandia, is associated with serious cardiac risks, reports of cardiovascular side effects have tripled. This is most likely due to doctors being unaware of the drug’s possible role in their patients’ heart problems. Doctors would not have reported the cardiovascular side effects in their Avandia patients if they had not known about the cardiac risks associated with the drug.
Avandia (generic rosiglitazone) was approved in 1999 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and it is estimated that approximately 6 million people worldwide have taken the drug to treat their diabetes. Avandia is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and is the world’s top-selling type 2 diabetes drug. Sales of the drug exceeded $3 billion in 2006.
Since the May 21, 2007 New England Journal of Medicine report about the seriousness of the cardiac risks involved with Avandia, reports of heart problems in Avandia patients have spiked. Before the study was printed, only 5 heart attacks in Avandia patients were reported; since the study was published, 90 heart attacks in Avandia patients have been reported. Heart-related hospitalizations went from 11 prior to the report to 126 following the report.
GlaxoSmithKline executives continue to insist the drug is safe.
