Avandia

Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate) is a drug used to treat type II diabetes. It works by improving the body's ability to use insulin. Avandia has been linked to serious and fatal side effects. According to one report, Avandia causes hundreds of heart attacks each month. In the last three months of 2009 alone, Avandia was linked to 304 deaths.

Senate Finance Committee Speaks Out on Avandia

On February 20, 2010 the Senate Finance Committee released a report its two year inquiry of Avandia. In a press release announcing the release of the study, the committee criticized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its handling of the safety problems associated with Avandia and other profitable but harmful drugs.

Senators on the committee also want answers regarding an ongoing clinical trial conducted by the FDA that FDA officials have said was "unethical and exploitative" of patients.

Avandia Heart Attack Risk Is Well-Known

Also in February, 2010, the New York Times reported that it had obtained confidential government reports about the dangers of Avandia and says that according to the reports, “if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart.”

The Senate Finance Committee press release states that "the FDA itself estimated that the drug caused approximately 83,000 excess heart attacks between 1999 and 2007".

Other Avandia Side Effects

The risk of heart failure and frighteningly high number of heart attack deaths caused by Avandia have taken the spotlight when it comes to Avandia risks. Other serious side effects may have been overshadowed, but they cannot be overlooked. Other side effects linked to Avandia include:

• Bone fracture sin the hands, feet, and upper arms
• Liver problems
• Anemia
• Hypoglycemia
• Macular edema and vision loss
• Weight gain

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