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Editor: Robert J. Binstock
Profession: Avandia Attorney

Category: Avandia Heart Attack

Over the past several months the controversy surrounding the popular type-2 diabetes medication Avandia has been building. An article published in May suggested an 42 percent increased risk of heart attack associated with the drug. Today another article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association conveys similar findings adding more fuel to the fire. The article is based on an independent study of thousands of older people with diabetes and its findings show a significant increased risk of heart attack among those treated with Avandia.

The new study concludes that Avandia users had a 60 percent increased risk of heart failure, a 40 percent increased risk of heart attacks and a 30 percent increased risk of death, compared with patients taking other oral diabetes medicines.

The study analyzed health outcomes for over 159,000 patients 65 years of age and older and after careful analysis the study's lead author, Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, came to the conclusion that "at least in this high-risk population the harms of the drug may out weigh the benefits."

The findings suggest that for every 100 people taking Avandia over a four-year period there would be five additional deaths, four additional heart attacks and three additional episodes of heart failure, Dr. Lipscombe said.

This is again a retrospective study, a review of the actual medical records of patients, similar to the study the May article was based on. These types of studies carry much less weight than a randomized control study, using a placebo, the actual drug and a control group to better assess effects of the drug.

The FDA has made no further restrictions on Avandia as of yet, but the study was only released today. The FDA will likley take a little time to review the study before making any additional recommendations on Avandia.