Strong Ties Connect Many of Avandia’s Defenders to Glaxo
A team of reviewers from the Mayo Clinic has found that nearly all of the scientific experts who have defended GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia had ties to the company, Reuters reports.
Despite tens of thousands of deaths and heart attacks linked to Avandia, the drug has received support in scientific studies and commentary. The Mayo Clinic review, which appears in the British Medical Journal, raises a number of concerns.
According to the Mayo Clinic review, approximately 94 percent of the positive Avandia reviews that emerged after a May 2007 study linked Avandia with an increased risk of heart attacks were from scientists with ties to the drug’s maker, Glaxo. And nearly half of the defenders had a conflict of interest because of their financial ties.
In an interview with Reuters, Dr. Victor Montori of the Mayo Clinic noted:
“It was almost three to four times more likely that somebody who had a relationship with a pharmaceutical company had a favorable opinion of the medication.”
The reviewers also looked at whether the scientists disclosed their ties to the drugmaker and found about 25 percent failed to do so.
This latest news comes about a month after a Senate Finance Committee released a highly critical report that claimed Glaxo abused the public’s trust by failing to disclose the serious health risks associated with Avandia.
That investigation, “Staff Report on GlaxoSmithKline and the Diabetes Drug Avandia,” indicated that since coming onto the market, Avandia has been linked to 83,000 deaths.
Earlier this month, Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration urging it to ban Avandia due to the heart attack dangers and the fact that a safer drug, Actos, is already on the market.
If you or a loved on suffered a heart attack after taking Avandia, contact the attorneys of Carey, Danis & Lowe. We can help. Carey, Danis & Lowe is a national law firm that represents individuals injured by America’s largest corporations.
