Who should you listen to?
A meta-analysis of previously published studies on the efficacy and safety of the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone )written by the whistle blower, Dr. Steve Nissen, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine has revealed a disturbing trend of increased heart attack risk. The study reported a 43% increase of heart failure, 15.2 times the risk compared to an older drug, Glucotrol along with a 9.5 times greater risk of liver damage.
Dr. Nissen is not alone in this assessment. The Public Citizens Health Research group stated that the risk-benefit profile of Avandia suggests it should be pulled from the shelves.
Conversely using this same research, Dr. Larry Deeb, in charge of medicine and science for the American Diabetes Association, believes that Avandia should still be sold to the public, albeit with a warning on the box.
Let’s see; the same studies were evaluated by different doctors, who came up with different interpretations as to what the data means. A suspicious person might think that interpretation changes according to who’s paying the bill. Nahh!
Thank goodness there are other options that are at least as effective as pharmaceutical drugs without the risk of heart failure that may or may not be associated with those drugs.
I am appalled that despite evidence that Avandia is not a good diabetic medication, it is still in the market with warning label.
This, as always, manifests greed, profit is more important than a life of a human being.
I am definitely going to my doctor soonest and will ask her to pull me out of AvandaMet and put me back on Metformin alone with a commitment to myself that I will supplement it religiously with diet and exercise. I am just so scared of this medication.