From Deseret News archives:
Diabetes pill may hike heart attack risk
Study shows 43% higher chance for Avandia users
More than 6 million people worldwide have taken the drug, sold as Avandia and Avandamet, since it came on the market eight years ago to help control blood sugar in people with the most common form of diabetes. About 1 million Americans use it now.
Pooled results of dozens of studies on nearly 28,000 people revealed a 43 percent higher risk of heart attack for those taking Avandia compared to people taking other diabetes drugs or no diabetes medication, according to the analysis published online Monday. The study, published by the New England Journal of Medicine, also found a trend toward more heart-related deaths.
The findings are frightening because two-thirds of diabetics die of heart problems, so a drug that boosts this possibility is especially hazardous for them.
Still, the actual risks to any single patient appear small. Diabetics should talk to their doctors before stopping any medication, said a statement issued by the American Diabetes Association and two groups of heart doctors.
FDA officials issued a safety alert on Monday and said they likely would convene an advisory panel, but planned no immediate changes to the current side effect warnings on the drug's packaging.
Several members of Congress expressed alarm. Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, announced a hearing for June 6 on FDA's role. On the Senate floor, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, criticized the agency for not acting more swiftly.
"Do we have another Vioxx on our hands with Avandia? I am not sure, but I intend to find out," he said, referring to the blockbuster arthritis drug withdrawn in 2004 because of safety problems. "Tens of millions of prescriptions have been written for Avandia, and Medicare and Medicaid have paid hundreds of millions of dollars for this drug."
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