Drug Makers Study Shows Avandia Odds of Serious Heart Failure Worse Than Russian Roulette

Page Changed: Actos and Avandia: Dangerous Diabetes Drugs

Added link to published study in the Lancet (reported previously at the ADA Scientific Sessions).

Rosiglitazone evaluated for cardiovascular outcomes in oral agent combination therapy for type 2 diabetes (RECORD): a multicentre, randomised, open-label trial. Philip D Home, et al. The Lancet, The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9681, Pages 2125 - 2135, 20 June 2009. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60953-3

This study found that the risk of "Heart failure causing admission to hospital or death" was much higher in people taking Avandia, and that the incidence of "Heart failure causing admission to hospital or death" was extremely high.

Sixty-one out of 321, or one out of every five people in this study who were taking Avandia, ended up in the hospital or dead thanks to heart failure. In the control group the incidence was 9 out of 100.

One in five is worse odds than Russian Roulette.

And this study was completely funded by the makers of Avandia.

Remember in reading this that Actos, the other TZD drug, has also been linked conclusively with causing heart failure in younger patients who had never shown signs of it before taking the drug.

Heart failure is a class effect of the TZD drugs and a very dangerous one.

I find it interesting that they lump "hospitalization and death" together rather than breaking out how many people died as a direct result of heart failure attributable to Avandia. You'd want to see how many deaths due to heart failure occurred in the control group and compare that number to the deaths from heart failure in the Avandia group.

But since the study was published by the drug maker, that is one data analysis you are not likely to see.