BIRMINGHAM LOUISIANA LEGAL HELP CENTER - AVANDIA LAWYER

Did you know?

More than 6 million people worldwide have been prescribed Avandia.

Avandia News Alert!

• The researchers found the risk of a heart attack was increased 43 percent among those taking Avandia. There is also a 64 percent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular causes while taking the drug.
• A study on Avandia will appear in the June 14 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
• Dr. Steven Nissen and his colleague Kathy Wolski, evaluated 42 studies that compared patients taking Avandia with patients not using the drug. The studies included nearly 28,000 patients, 15,560 of whom were taking Avandia.
• The Food and Drug Administration urged diabetics taking the pill to talk to their doctors, but stopped short of forcing a sharper warning label on the drug sold by GlaxoSmithKline.
• More than 6 million people worldwide have taken the drug since it came on the market eight years ago.
• Experts said the overall risk was small and cautioned people not to stop taking the drug on their own but to talk to their doctors.

More New on Avandia

The FDA and GlaxoSmithKline said on January 5, 2006 that patients who have taken Avandia reported blurry vision and swelling of the feet and legs. More than 6 million people worldwide have been prescribed Avandia.

The FDA and GlaxoSmithKline said on January 5, 2006 that patients who have taken Avandia reported blurry vision and swelling of the feet and legs. More than 6 million people worldwide have been prescribed Avandia.

GlaxoSmithKline stated they received very rare reports of new or worsening diabetic macular edema in diabetic patients who took Avandia. The swelling of the retina can cause blurry or distorted vision. Additionally, most of those patients also reported peripheral edema, or swelling of the legs, ankles and feet, according to a letter GlaxoSmithKline sent during December 2005 to doctors.

Avandia is a diabetes drug in the same class as Rezulin. The FDA sent a warning letter on July 17, 2001 stating that Avandia has wrongly denied serious risk of congestive heart failure, hepatitis, and liver failure occurring in Avandia users. When Rezulin diabetes drug was recalled it was very controversial but the FDA claimed they were waiting to recall it until a safer option was found. Avandia was considered to be safer on the liver, although the FDA only claimed Avandia was only believed to be safer but still had the risk of causing liver toxicity.

Avandia Side Effects - Avandia Lawyer

Avandia side effects can be very dangerous. Depending on the condition of the individual, including personal risk factors, Avandia side effects can have a much larger likelihood of occurring in some patients. It is essential to educate yourself on what medications you are prescribed so that if suffering Avandia side effects a patient will be able to take the proper measures in making sure the condition does not worsen.

The Avandia side effects can range from minor to life threatening. Included on Avandia labeling are the warnings that Avandia side effects can be as serious as cardiac events, including failure, and hepatic risks. When Avandia was first approved it was intended to replace the recalled diabetes drug Rezulin as a safe alternative because regulators did not associate as many Avandia side effects to it.

The American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association issued recommendations to guide the use of Avandia, a glucose-lowering drugs and other as thiazolidinediones (TZDs). Diabetics who have mild heart disease or any problems with their kidneys may be at an increased risk of developing congestive heart failure if they take certain diabetes medications, according to a new study.

The study, published in the September 9, 2003 issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, reported on six cases of congestive heart failure in people taking Avandia to help control their diabetes. The researchers studied the records of six men, between the ages of 66 and 78 years, with Type-II diabetes who had gone to the emergency room at Dallas Veterans Affairs Medical Center emergency room.

All six patients complained of shortness of breath, swelling of their feet, and weight gain, which are symptoms of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema (fluid buildup in the lungs). Congestive heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough blood to maintain adequate circulation. Because the heart doesn't pump properly, fluid often builds up in the lungs.

Four of the six people in this study had chronic renal insufficiency, which means that their kidneys weren't functioning normally. Only two had any previous signs of heart disease. Four of the six had high blood pressure. They had been on the diabetes medications for between one month and 16 months. Three people developed symptoms within one to three months after the dose of their diabetes drug had been increased.