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Posted in Pharmaceuticals Blog

Glaxo throws the next punch in fight over Avandia

August 8th, 2007 by Todd Hageman

Pharmalot reports that Glaxo, the maker of the diabetes drug Avandia, is sending e-mails to different media outlets bragging about a new study published in The Annals of Internal Medicine by George Diamond and Sanjay Kaul of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.  Their report took aim at a previous meta-analysis published in the New England Journal of Medicine by cardiologist Steve Nissen.

The new study concluded:

“The meta-analysis was not based on a comprehensive search for all studies that might yield evidence about (Avandia’s) cardiovascular effects. Studies were combined on the basis of a lack of statistical heterogeneity, despite substantial variability in study design and outcome assessment. The meta-analytic approach that was used required the exclusion of studies with zero events in the treatment and control groups. Alternative meta-analytic approaches that use continuity corrections show lower odds ratios that are not statistically significant. We conclude that the risk for myocardial infarction and death from cardiovascular disease for diabetic patients taking rosiglitazone is uncertain: Neither increased nor decreased risk is established.”

Apparently Glaxo is choosing to fight this in the media, rather than through the FDA.

If you or someone you know has been hurt as a result of taking Avandia, please call Simon Passanante attorney Todd Hageman toll free at 1-877-767-3108.

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