Group calls for ban of diabetes drug

According to advocacy group Public Citize, diabetes drug Avandia must be banned in the United States due to the threats that it poses to the liver and other organs. According to the group, 14 individual cases of liver failure had been induced by Avandia, some 12 of which proved fatal.
Director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, Dr. Sidney Wolfe, reportedly commented: “The scientific evidence against Avandia is overwhelming. The timing of these findings should give the FDA the momentum it needs to act swiftly to prevent further needless deaths and health damage by banning this drug.”
An American Diabetes Association/European Association for the Study of Diabetes taskforce is also calling for a ban of the drug. Glaxo deny that Avandia is linked with liver failure, but the drug is known to increase the risk of heart attack by some 40 per cent.
A statement by Public Citizen was published in Diabetes Care .