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ABC World News (6/28, story 7, 2:20, Sawyer) reported, “Two major studies have found the medicine called Avandia [rosiglitazone] could create a significant new risk of heart attack and other serious problems.”

The Washington Post (6/29, Stein) reports that one study, “involving more than 35,500 people, found that Avandia significantly raises the chances of a heart attack.” A separate study “of more than 227,500 Medicare patients — the largest such study to date — found that the drug boosts the risk for strokes, heart failure, and death.”

Los Angeles Times (6/29, Roan) reports that the first study “found Avandia raised the risk of heart attacks by 28% to 39% as compared with other diabetes medications. The study was published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.”

Bloomberg News (6/29, Cortez) quotes Steven Nissen, MD, lead author of the study, as saying, “I think we’ve got more than enough evidence to say this drug should not be used.”

USA Today (6/29, Marcus) reports that in the second study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, “scientists from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the Food and Drug Administration evaluated data from 227,571 Medicare beneficiaries taking either Avandia or Actos [pioglitazone hydrochloride].” The investigators found “no differences in the risk for heart attack between the two drugs, but the study found that compared with Actos, Avandia was associated with a 25% increased risk of heart failure, a 27% increased risk of stroke and a 14% increased risk of death.”

Lawmakers call for Avandia to be pulled from market. The Hill (6/28, Pecquet) “Healthwatch” blog reported that “Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) on Monday called for the diabetes drug Avandia to be pulled from the market in the wake of two new medical studies.” In a joint statement, Sen. Grassley said, “The serious issues delineated in these two new, independent reports put additional onus on advisory committee members when they meet in July.”

Bloomberg News (6/29, Peterson, Cortez) reports that “Grassley and Senator Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, in February released a report that said Glaxo knew Avandia may cause heart damage several years before” a “study documented the risk.”

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The diabetes drug Avandia, once the world’s top-selling diabetes medication, took two more hits with one new study linking it to an increased risk of heart attacks and a separate study linking it to an increased risk of heart failure and stroke.

The research comes only weeks before an upcoming federal hearing to reconsider its fate. Shari Roan, LA Times 06/29/2010
The drug, known by its generic name, rosiglitazone, was approved in 1999 to help people with Type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar. At the time, it was considered a safer alternative than existing diabetes drugs used instead of insulin. Soon after approval, the drug was linked to an increased risk of heart failure and bone fractures; worries about the drug’s safety increased in 2007 when a meta-analysis — a pooling of previous studies — concluded that the drug increased the risk of heart attack.

Read Article: LA Times

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