New Study Confirms Avandia Dangers

September 2007

Study results affirming the dangers of Avandia have been released just less than one month from the date the diabetes drug received a black box warning label from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the study, researchers found that patients taking Avandia had a 42 percent greater chance of having a heart attack than patients taking other medication or a placebo.

Published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study analyzed over 14,000 patients. Of the 6,421 taking Avandia, 94 patients suffered heart attacks. These findings were in line with a study released in May of this year that prompted the FDA to take a closer look at Avandia’s risk of heart attack.

Another study was released in the same publication that showed more promising results for Avandia’s only competitor, Actos. Researchers found that patients taking Actos were 18 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack than patients on other drugs or a placebo. Results were compiled and analyzed from 19 previous clinical trials of Actos.