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Diabetic Drug Causing Heart Attack (Update) |
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Written by Dr. Edward Zimmer
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GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of the top-selling diabetic drug Avandia® is busy performing damage control. This is after a study released in late May suggested that the drug was indeed increasing the risk of heart attacks in those using Avandia®. The irony is that one of the major reasons people take this drug is to hopefully reduce the risk of heart disease.
Of course, the drug was immediately taken off of the market until its safety is proven! Right? Wrong! Instead the FDA issued a “safety alert” and Glaxo took out a million dollar full page advertisement in the USA Today which read, in part:
“We at GlaxoSmithKline are proud to be the makers of Avandia®…We also understand the confusion and concern you may have experienced following recent press coverage about the safety of Avandia®. GlaxoSmithKline stands firmly behind Avandia®… Be assured, GSK gives you our full commitment to providing you and your doctor with the facts about the safety of Avandia®.”
What a bunch of poop! Last August, Glaxo submitted a meta-analysis to the FDA that suggested Avandia® users had a 30% higher risk of a heart attack than patients on other diabetic drugs. The USA Today article outlined how professor John Buse of the University of North Carolina’s medical school received calls from Glaxo threatening him with liable for reporting an elevated risk of chest pain and heart attacks with Avandia® back in 1999! So, as far back as 1999 Glaxo knew about the risks with Avandia® and since they are committed to letting you and your doctor know about the facts concerning the safety of this drug they did not make this information public until 2007!
Glaxo, itself, is performing a study to help determine just how bad Avandia® is in regards to causing heart attacks and the results should be out in 2009. (Of course that study will not be biased in any manner!) Why in the world do we keep a drug on the market that may be causing heart attacks when there are numerous other options a diabetic can choose when trying to control blood sugars? Talk about putting the cart in front of the horse. The safety of the patient should always be put ahead of the profit being made by the pharmaceutical company. Without explanation and without consequence, the FDA is allowing for the exact opposite to happen in this case. You should be outraged!
Let me re-write the Glaxo advertisement to add a bit of truth to the mix:
“We at GlaxoSmithKline are proud to be making so much money from Avandia®. We understand the confusion and concern you may have experienced following the recent leaking of information in the press about how Avandia® is causing heart attacks. GlaxoSmithKline is proud to ignore the fact that we are killing people because we do not want to lose profits from this blockbuster drug. Be assured, GSK gives you our full commitment to providing you and your doctor with enough spin to assure you think Avandia® is safe.”
Many times, I hear people defend a drug by saying that the deaths caused by that drug are far outweighed by the number of lives it saves. First, tell that to the father, mother, wife, husband or child of the person killed by the drug. Second, Avandia® saves no lives and there are other options. Give the balance sheet argument a rest in this case.
How much proof do you need to realize that drugs are dangerous? The lesson to learn from the Avandia® saga, as well as the Vioxx debacle, is that you need to take charge of your own health by asking your doctors questions about your care? I urge you to read my article: 5 ?’s To Ask At Your Next Doctor Visit
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