The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced yesterday that access to the diabetes drug Avandia will be restricted to patients with Type 2 diabetes whose medical conditions cannot be controlled with other medications. Also, today the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended that Avandia be taken off the market. The EMA is Europe’s counterpart to the U.S. and is responsible for the approval of all drugs sold in Europe.
I am a Texas Board Certified Lawyer in the Dallas and Fort Worth and believe if you have suffered a heart attack, stroke, or other adverse health problems while taking Avandia, you may be entitled to compensation to help pay medical bills or provide for your family if you are unable to work due to health problems. There may be a time limit on when you can file a case and I advise you to call me immediately.
History: Despite a 2007 FDA black box warning and a July 2010 study in the British Medical Journal finding that Type 2 Diabetes patients using Avandia have a substantially higher risk of death, heart attack, and stroke than patients taking Actos (another drug in the same class), a July 2010 FDA panel voted to keep Avandia on the market. Further, GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Avandia, had data indicating that there were extensive heart problems associated with the drug almost as soon as it was introduced in 1999 and tried to keep those findings from the public, according to a July 2010 New York Times article. The New York Times also reported in February 2010 that Avandia has been linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.
If the manufacturers of Avandia had told the full truth about the drug’s harmful effects to the medical community or the users of Avandia, patients would have been able to make an informed decision about the potential health risks of using the drug. This has been an ongoing problem and I respect the FDA for repeatedly reviewing this drug. One should not sit idly while this large pharmaceutical company hides the truth about dangerous drugs.
If you have questions about health problems from Avandia, please contact Texas Avandia Lawyer Mark A. Anderson, who can be reached in Fort Worth at 817-294-1900 or in Dallas at 214-327-8000 or across Texas at 1-877-294-1115.
