Avandia: Warning Label Urged for Avandia

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel has concluded that diabetes patients taking the drug Avandia to treat their condition have a greater risk of heart attack than those taking other drugs to treat their conditions. While the panel did not advise removing the drug from the market, they did say that Avandia needs a stricter warning on its label.

Warning Label Urged for Avandia

The panel's recommendation likely will only cause more problems for GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Avandia. Increasing information suggests that GlaxoSmithKline was aware of the dangers of Avandia more than a year before a report linked Avandia to increased heart and kidney risks. More than 20 million Americans and about 170 million people around the world have diabetes.