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Produced to control blood-sugar levels in patients with Type-2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes, Avandia® has been the specific topic of a number of studies that have concluded that usage of the product as a treatment for diabetes may increase the possibility of death, heart-attack, heart-failure, and bone fracture. In May 2007, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published and circulated to health-care officials a warning that described the possible risks connected to the use of Avandia® as a diabetic treatment. Avandia® Treatment The FDA's concerns were prompted by the conclusions of a paper that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which it was calculated that using Avandia® to treat diabetes could increase the risk of heart-attack by in excess of 40-per-cent and heart-disease by more than 60-per-cent. The FDA alerted health-care officials to the following: "Avandia® was approved in 1999 for treatment of Type-2 diabetes, a serious and life threatening disease that affects about 18 to 20 million Americans. Diabetes is a leading cause of coronary heart disease, blindness, kidney-failure, and limb amputation." The FDA further stated: "Since the drug was approved, FDA has been monitoring several heart-related adverse events (e.g., fluid retention, edema and congestive heart failure) based on signals seen in previous controlled clinical trials of Avandia® alone and in combination with other drugs, and from post-marketing reports. FDA has updated the product's labeling on several occasions to reflect these new data, most recently in 2006." In conclusion, said the FDA: "The most recent labeling change for Avandia® also included a new warning about a potential increase in heart attacks and heart-related chest pain in some individuals using Avandia®. This new warning was based on the result of a controlled clinical trial in patients with existing congestive heart failure." Using Avandia® as a treatment for diabetes has also been blamed for serious limb fractures in some patients. For example, in April 2008, the Archives of Internal Medicine described the findings of a study initiated by researchers from Switzerland whose attention was focused on British patients with diabetes. The authors of the paper concluded that in those who had been treated with Avandia® for at least one full year, the possibility of bone fracture was almost twice that of those patients who were prescribed other drugs for their Type-2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetes. Furthermore, in those patients who had used Avandia® for a period of two years, the risk of serious bone-fracture was nearly tripled. How DrugRxRecall Can Help You With Your Avandia® Treatment Concerns If you or a loved one has suffered from serious, life-threatening conditions that may have resulted after taking Avandia® as a treatment for diabetes, contact us immediately. We will be pleased to refer you to a lawyer who can offer you a free consultation, information on class actions, and advice on potential claims for accidents, injuries and deaths caused by the side-effects of using Avandia® as a diabetic treatment.
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