Avandia Heart Attack Lawsuit

Quick Facts:

Congestive heart failure occurs when the heart can no longer pump enough blood to maintain adequate circulation. Because the heart doesn't pump properly, fluid often builds up in the lungs.

More than 65 percent of deaths among diabetic patients are heart disease related.

Avandia has been shown in studies to increase the chance of heart attack by 43% and risk of cardiovascular death by 64%

Avandia was approved in 1999 for treatment of type 2 diabetes, a serious and life threatening disease that affects about 18 to 20 million Americans.

The medical term for heart attack is myocardial infarction. A heart attack is also sometimes called a coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion.

On June 7, 2007 the FDA ordered a Black Box Warning. The "black box" warning is the strongest warning that the FDA adds to labels on medications that may pose a health threat to users.

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Avandia Heart Attack

Chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, US, Dr Steven Nissen and Cleveland Clinic statistician Kathy Wolski, analyzed the data on 42 randomized controlled trials lasting more than 24 weeks and found that Avandia (rosiglitazone) raised patients' heart attack risk by 43 percent and their risk of cardiovascular death by 64 percent compared to placebo or other therapies.

Nissen and Wolski included all the studies they could find that met their meta-analysis criteria which included: duration more than 24 weeks, control group not receiving the target drug, availability of outcome data including incidence of heart attack and cardiovascular death.

They looked in published literature, the FDA website and the registry of the drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline and found 116 studies of which 42 met the inclusion criteria.

The 42 studies covered 15,560 patients who were randomized to regimens including Avandia (rosiglitazone) and 12,283 to comparator groups that did not.

The results showed that in the 42 trials:

The mean age of the participants was 56 years.
There was a moderate male predominance (53 to 61 percent).
The mean baseline glycated hemoglobin level was approximately 8.2 percent.
Compared with the control group (placebo or other diabetes drug), the Avandia (rosiglitazone) group had a 43 percent greater risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack).
Also, compared with the control group, the Avandia (rosiglitazone) group had a 64 percent greater risk of death from cardiovascular causes.

What is a heart attack:

A heart attack occurs when the blood supply to part of the heart muscle itself — the myocardium — is severely reduced or stopped. The reduction or stoppage happens when one or more of the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle is blocked. This is usually caused by the buildup of plaque (deposits of fat-like substances), a process called atherosclerosis. The plaque can eventually burst, tear or rupture, creating a "snag" where a blood clot forms and blocks the artery. This leads to a heart attack.

If you or a loved one have experienced an Avandia heart attack, or Avandia stroke, Avandia congestive heart failure, Avandia cardiovascular disease or if you have lost a loved one to an Avandia death you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Avandia lawyers of Ennis & Ennis, P.A. today about an Avandia lawsuit. Call us toll free for a free, confidential case evaluation or fill out our online Avandia case evaluation form.