Avandia Attorney

Another Avandia Study to be Performed - What will it Accomplish?

Avandia has been in the news quite a bit recently, and not necessarily for positive reasons. The drug has come under intense scrutiny because of its potential link to serious heart-related side effects, and this news came after Avandia had dominated the diabetes medication market for some time. Several studies have been done on Avandia, and the results have come down on both sides of the issue of whether or not the drug should remain in circulation.

As a result of these studies, a massive, full-blown hearing/panel discussion was held to analyze the results of these studies and to make a formal recommendation to the FDA regarding Avandia's future. The recommendation stated that Avandia should remain available, much to the chagrin of those who are convinced that it's a dangerous medication.

Now comes word that Humana, a health care giant, and researchers from the University of Miami are going to collaborate on another major study. This study/program, which will be called Pharmacovigilance Initiative, will track more drugs than just Avandia, but Avandia will definitely be part of the effort's focus. Given all the studies and discussions that have already taken place, we need to ask what this effort will accomplish.

The Mission

The Initiative will begin by analyzing reports of adverse reactions to drugs from the 11 million members in Humana's database, and these reports will be plugged into statistical programs and trend analysis software in order to formulate some wide-ranging conclusions in relation to different drugs, including Avandia.

The results will ultimately be published on a new Web site, and the group appears to be somewhat objective in its approach. However, Dr. Pascal J. Goldschmidt, senior vice president for medical affairs and dean of the Miller School of Medicine, states that he believes that as of now, reporting on dangerous drugs is largely voluntary, and that "system" could lead to inaccurate results. Inaccurate results in situations such as these could be dangerous, to say the least.

So what will this accomplish? Well, that will most likely depend on your perspective. Although it's quite likely that an effort like this will involve a larger subject pool than ever, which logically would lead one to believe in the results, people on both sides of the issue will still point to studies and statistics that support their positions.

Hopefully, this effort will at least shed light on the entire pharmaceutical drug issue. If you have been harmed by taking Avandia, contact an Avandia attorney at Williams Kherkher immediately to schedule a free initial consultation.