Controversy continues to plague GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia. Several studies have found that Avandia raises heart risks in diabetics, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is weighing whether the drug is too dangerous to stay on the market.
But in a new study of more than 29,000 diabetics, done by researchers at health insurer WellPoint Inc, the risks of death or having a heart attack, heart failure or both were the same, about 4 percent, for patients taking either Avandia, known generically as rosiglitazone, or Takeda Pharmaceutical Co’s Actos, known generically as pioglitazone.
They reported in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes that when they accounted for potential variables, including age, gender and prior heart disease, about 4% of each group had a heart attack, heart failure or died.
“What distinguishes this latest study from other claims-based analyses is its analysis of death records, which includes out-of-hospital deaths,” said Debra Wertz of HealthCore, Wellpoint’s research arm. “This study provides patients and their doctors with another source of information about rosiglitazone and pioglitazone as they determine the best therapy for diabetes patients,” she added.
