How is it that a diabetes medication known to cause heart attacks and heart failure is still on the market? When it comes to the controversial diabetes medication Avandia, this is precisely what personal injury lawyers, writers from The New York Times and consumer advocacy groups are all trying to find out. The drug, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, was once one of the best selling drugs in the world, generating a staggering $3.2 billion in 2006. Yet the troubles for Avandia started in 2007 when a Cleveland cardiologist released a study that suggested that the drug caused heart attacks. This prompted the Food and Drug Administration to issue a warning, and soon sales of the drug started to slip even as GlaxoSmithKline worked to assure patients that it was safe.  

The FDA themselves have been split on the issue of Avandia. Some officials have recommended the drug be pulled off the market since it poses a danger to consumers. Others within the agency insist that since the reports on the drug have been conflicting, there is no need to discontinue the product until further testing is done. GlaxoSmithKline maintains that its own independent studies and scientific testing found that Avandia does not increase the risk of heart attacks.  

And yet it seems there must be something to the safety warnings as lawsuits against GlaxoSmithKline continue to mount, like the one that was filed in the beginning of March 2010 by Santa Clara County, California. The lawsuit claims that GlaxoSmithKline intentionally suppressed vital information, hiding it from consumers by not alerting them to the risk of heart attack. The lawsuit seeks restitution for all purchasers of Avandia in the state of California, claiming the company violated the state’s false-advertising statutes, and follows a Senate report released in February that found that GlaxoSmithKline was guilty of minimizing the hazards involved with taking the drug. This suit, although the first of its kind involving Avandia, is a preview of things to come for GlaxoSmithKline as diabetes patients discover that a drug that is supposed to assist their health might instead have life-threatening effects.

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