Strike 2 for GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia
The New York Times reported today that an independent study that analyzed thous.jpg)
ands of older people with diabetes found that those treated with the widely used drug Avandia had significantly elevated risks of heart attack and death.
According to the Times article, the finding, published on Tuesday, in this month’s Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), could rekindle the debate about whether Avandia, a controversial treatment for Type 2 Diabetes, should remain on the market. Earlier studies drew similar links between Avandia and cardiac risks.
The new study concludes that Avandia users had a 60 percent increased risk of heart failure, a 40 percent increased risk of heart attacks and a 30 percent increased risk of death compared with patients taking other oral diabetes medicines.
Sales of the drug, formerly a $3.4 billion product globally, have declined sharply since June 2007 when an article appears in the questioning the drug's safety.
Not good news for GSK. The big question now is whether the company ought to cut its losses and take Avandia off the market or continue to squeeze as much money out of the product until lawsuits begin to accumulate.
Until next time…
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting (not at GSK)!!!!!!!!!!!
