Reports of Diabetes Drug Side Effects Triple after Publication of Study

Email this article to a friend

Printable Version

Articles Related to This Article: • FDA refuses to pull dangerous diabetes drug Avandia, even knowing it will kill thousands • GlaxoSmithKline reportedly threatened diabetes expert over Avandia warnings • Avandia Study Shows 60 Percent Increase in Heart Failure Risk Among Diabetics who Take the Drug NaturalNews Store Specials: • Astaxanthin and Hawaiian spirulina at 50% off • Raw organic Vanilla powder at 40% off • Revolutionary new Hurom Slow Juicer at the lowest price on the 'net + FREE shipping! • Certified Organic Nutiva Hemp Seeds at a huge discount (+ FREE bottle of hemp oil) See more at the NN store...

(NaturalNews) In the month after the announcement that the popular diabetes drug Avandia may lead to an increased risk of heart attacks, reports of the drug's side effects from doctors to the federal government tripled.

On May 21, 2007, the New England Journal of Medicine and the FDA released the results of a study which found that rosiglitazone -- marketed as Avandia, or as Avandamet or Avandaryl when mixed with other diabetes drugs -- led to higher risk of heart attacks. Sufferers of Type 2 diabetes, which rosiglitazone is intended to combat, are already at a higher risk of heart disease than the general population.

According to Freedom of Information Act requests by the Associated Press, reporting of side effects from rosiglitazone was three times higher in the 35 days after May 21 than in the 35 days before. For certain effects, the change was even more drastic.

While only five rosiglitazone-related heart attacks were reported in the 35 days before the study, 90 were reported in the days after. Only 11 heart-related hospitalizations were reported before the study; there were 126 after.

According to Dr. Alvin C. Powers, a diabetes specialist at Vanderbilt University, the study probably led to doctors being more aware that their patients' heart problems might be linked to the drug, thus leading to an increase in reporting.

"Now patients and their doctors are much more aware of the possible link between Avandia and cardiovascular disease," Powers said. "This is going to help us going forward to determine whether or not this drug is safe."

Avandia was on the market for eight years before the release of the New England Journal of Medicine Study. However, warnings had been made as early as March 2000 that the drug might not be safe. These warnings were not acted on by the FDA, and the doctor who made them -- John Buse, of the University of North Carolina -- has claimed that he was threatened with legal action by GlaxoSmithKline if he did not recant.

Share

Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:

Related Articles: • FDA refuses to pull dangerous diabetes drug Avandia, even knowing it will kill thousands • GlaxoSmithKline reportedly threatened diabetes expert over Avandia warnings • Avandia Study Shows 60 Percent Increase in Heart Failure Risk Among Diabetics who Take the Drug	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/022742_Avandia_drug_side_effects_diabetes.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial use OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. Embed article link: (copy HTML code below): <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/022742_Avandia_drug_side_effects_diabetes.html">Reports of Diabetes Drug Side Effects Triple after Publication of Study</a>