F.D.A. Internal Reports Recommend Avandia Be Withdrawn From Market
There is a fierce debate going on within the Food and Drug Administration regarding the drug Avandia. According to the New York Times, recent internal reports from the Food and Drug Administration recommend that Avandia (a drug used to treat Type 2 diabetes) be removed from the market. The reports indicate that people who use Avandia needlessly suffer heart attacks and heart failure each month and say that if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month. Avandia was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009. It is expected that an advisory committee within the FDA will debate the drug further this spring and summer and will then make a final decision regarding the drug and whether or not it should be sold.
Avandia is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline and was once one of the best-selling drugs in the world. In 2006 alone, sales were $3.2 billion.
