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Editor: Robert J. Binstock
Profession: Avandia Attorney

Category: Other Avandia News

On Monday in a phone interview GlaxoSmithKline CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier said that he believes Avandia may not be as big of a disaster as everyone has made it out to be. It has been reported that the FDA is considering adding an additional black box warning and label changes to the drug in the near future. The once blockbuster medication's sales began to plummet after a May New England Journal of Medicine article linked the type-2 diabetes drug to a significant increased risk of heart attack, and there have been speculations of additional warning swirling since the first black box warning was added in July.

Garnier says that even if the FDA decides on another black box warning for Avandia, the drug may still be able to rebound strongly.

"It's not the black box that matters or the lack of black box; that's not important to me, it's -- what is it saying?" Garnier told the Reuters Health Summit in New York.

Last week Canadian authorities in conjunction with GSK added additional limitations on prescribing in Canada and my guess is that FDA will not be far behind Health Canada.