PPH Lawyers

Avandia Overview

Avandia, along with a controlled diet and exercise, can improve blood-sugar control in adults with Type 2 (non-insulin dependent) diabetes. It can be used alone or in combination with other drugs.

While the description of uses for Avandia is rather short, the precautions are not. The first precaution on the list is that Avandia is in the same class of drugs as Rezulin which has been linked to a rare but serious form of liver injury including liver failure that leads to needing a liver transplant or to death. The general side effects, or non-serious ones, include a cough or cold, headaches, inflammation of the sinuses, back pain, and swelling or fluid retention. Recently, Avandia has been linked to heart failure and so has had stronger warnings added to its box. This link was originally reported in May of 2007. This stems from reports that followed controlled clinical studies which showed that there is a potentially significant increase in the risk of heart attack and heart-related deaths in patients taking Avandia.

Since these reports came out in May, the FDA has maintained that Avandia is overall safe. It has been linked to both heart failure and other heart problems (such as primary pulmonary hypertension) in controlled studies not conducted by or related to the FDA. Ongoing studies by the FDA, both placebo based and randomized, do not show a significant risk of heart issues. Still, they felt it was necessary to increase the warnings on the packaging of Avandia, just to be on the safe side.

If you have been diagnosed with PPH, please contact a PPH lawyer at Williams Kherkher. We will work zealously to enforce your rights. Contact the PPH lawyers of Williams Kherkher to schedule your consultation at 1-800-220-9341.