Mayo Clinic Report Questions Financial Link between Avandia® Makers and Researchers
By Jim Greene
Published on March 31, 2010
A Mayo Clinic study of researchers looking into a possible link between the diabetes drug Avandia® (rosiglitazone) and heart disease found that most of those whose study results did not support such a link had financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Relationships between researchers and drug companies included being paid to conduct the Avandia® studies, being paid to conduct other studies, and paid consultation at various levels on a variety of topics.
While not necessarily proving a bias on the part of researchers reporting results favorable to Avandia® makers, the Mayo Clinic report said the results showed a need to improve financial disclosure procedures within the research community to enhance public confidence in the validity of results. The report said many studies did not include any financial disclosure.
Plaintiffs in numerous lawsuits against Avandia® maker GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK) blame the type 2 diabetes medicine for causing or worsening heart disease, and for strokes, liver damage, and other medical issues. GSK is accused of negligence for failure to adequately warn of Avandia® risks from its release in 1999 until 2007, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration order the company to strengthen its warnings and display them more prominently on package labels and in online and print literature.
The number of Avandia® lawsuits in Los Angeles County alone caused a Superior Court judge to appoint a steering committee to consolidate more than 3,000 cases, in hopes of speeding up the trials by issuing uniform pretrial judgments affecting all cases.
If you or someone you know has suffered heart disease, stroke, liver damage, or other medical problems after taking Avandia®, especially if you feel you were misled about possible side effects, contact an experienced personal injury attorney. You may be eligible for financial compensation to help you deal with the consequences of decisions you made based on possibly biased information.
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