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Editor: Robert J. Binstock
Profession: Avandia Attorney

Category: Avandia Heart Attack

Today European regulators added new warnings for GlaxoSmithKline's type-2 diabetes drug Avandia. The warnings recommend that patients with heart disease or leg pains should not take the drug. People who suffer from angina or who have had heart attacks are also advised to not take Avandia.

The move to change the label of Avandia was made in response to growing concerns spawned by a May 2007 New England Journal of Medicine article linking the drug to a 43 per cent increased risk of heart attack. Additional studies have suggested similar risk, but more studies are needed to confirm the results of currently available studies.

Avandia was Glaxo's second-biggest drug in 2006, with worldwide revenue of 1.6 billion pounds ($3.2 billion), but sales have plunged since May, with revenue in the United States down 48 percent in the third quarter from the year-ago period.

Medical authorities throughout the world have responded with labeling changes for the once blockbuster medication that is now surrounded by controversy and concern.