Personal Injury Law

Diabetes Drug Avandia May Cause Bone Fractures

By Altman & Altman

New research shows that the popular diabetes drug Avandia may cause bone thinning, which could lead to osteoporosis and bone fractures. Although GlaxoSmith-Kline has admitted that women who take Avandia have a higher risk of bone fractures, this most recent study is the first one to explain the connection between bone fractures and the drug.

A report published in Nature Medicine says that researchers gave the drug to mice. The drug increased activity among the cells that degrade bones. The National Institutes of Health and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute funded the research.

Avandia, also called Rosiglitazone, is used for long-term care of patients with Type II diabetes (adult-onset diabetes). Type II diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. Some 21 million people in America are afflicted with diabetes.

If you or someone you love has sustained an injury or become sick because of a prescription drug, you should speak with a dangerous drug attorney right away to determine whether you have grounds to file a products liability claim or lawsuit against the manufacturer.

Drug manufacturers are supposed to including a warning of all the health risks that come with taking a prescription drug. If you were not warned of the health risks or side effects beforehand, you may be able to sue the manufacturer for personal injury.

Although the FDA is there to regulate the safety of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, it is not uncommon for a drug to be found "dangerous" only after a number of people have already sustained serious injuries or died as a result of taking the medication.

GlaxoSmithKline is already facing numerous dangerous drug lawsuits because it had not previously warned users that the drug could place them at risk of heart disease. One lawsuit is seeking more than $100 million in damages for hiding the risks associated with Avandia. One wrongful death lawsuit in involves a Texas widow who says the drug killed her husband. Warnings of heart failure risks was recently added to the Avandia drug label.

Diabetes drug tied to bone fractures, Baltimore Sun, December 3, 2007

Diabetes Drug to Warn of Risk to Heart, AP, November 15, 2007

Related Web Resource:

Avandia

Full post as published by Boston Injury Lawyer Blog on December 05, 2007 (boomark / email).