Avandia use is restricted for diabetes patients

by Poonam Singhal



FDA will restrict the use of the diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) to patients with Type 2 diabetes who cannot control their diabetes on other medications. Avandia may elevate risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke.

"The FDA is taking this action to protect patients, after a careful effort to weigh benefits and risks," said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D. "We are seeking to strike the right balance to support clinical care."

Rosiglitazone also is available in combination with other diabetes medications, metformin under the brand name Avandamet or glimepiride under the brand name Avandaryl.

Avandia, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is in a class of drugs known as thiazolidinediones, or TZDs. It is intended to be used in conjunction with diet and exercise to improve glucose (blood sugar) control in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The FDA will require that GSK develop a restricted access program for Avandia under a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, or REMS. Under the REMS, Avandia will be available to new patients only if they are unable to achieve glucose control on other medications and are unable to take Actos (pioglitazone), the only other drug in this class. Current users of Avandia who are benefiting from the drug will be able to continue using the medication if they choose to do so.

"Allowing Avandia to remain on the market, but under restrictions, is an appropriate response, given the significant safety concerns and the scientific uncertainty still remaining about this drug," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.


(Poonam Singhal -- sub-editor compiled and published Avandia use is restricted for diabetes patients at HealthNewsTrack on September 23, 2010 sourced from U.S. Food and Drug Administration - http://www.fda.gov/)

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