In a Harvard study, research dictated that people who take the diabetes drug Avandia have more than double the risk of a heart attack compared to other diabetes drugs. This study has been published in the American Diabetes Association’s prestigious publication, Diabetes Care.

A co-sponsored study by GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of Avandia, and i3 Drug Safety, an independent drug-safety firm demonstrates that diabetics who are taking Avandia have a 35 to 41 percent increased risk of heart attacks over diabetics who are taking Actos, which is Avandia’s main competitor.

Serious heart-related side effects from taking Avandia

In this study participants were divided into three treatment regimen groups: monotherapy, dual therapy, and insulin therapy. The monotherapy was either Avandia/rosiglitazone or Actos/pioglitazone.

Yet, Avandia is still being prescribed in the pharmaceutical marketplace even though in 2007, researchers proved that people with diabetes were at more heart attack risk when taken the drug vs. other diabetes drugs. At that time, the FDA thought it was only necessary to warn diabetes about the dangers by having GlaxoSmithKline put a Black Box warning on the label.

Was the FDA measure too little, too late?

We at Anapol Schwartz law firm in Central, Pa., think so. And so do thousands of people prescribed Avandia who have suffered heart attacks and developed heart disease after being prescribed the drug and who have filed Avandia diabetes lawsuits.

What do you think? Have you suffered serious heart-related side effects from taking Avandia? Has a loved died from a heart attack associated with Avandia diabetes medication?