Quoted from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8388096/Suspended-diabetes-drug-Avandia-raises-heart-disease-risk-by-a-quarter.html
Suspended diabetes drug Avandia 'raises heart disease risk by a quarter'
A diabetes drug which was used by at least 50,000 people in Britain increases the risk of heart disease while on it by almost a quarter and the risk of death by almost a sixth, according to research.
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21 Feb 2010By Stephen Adams 6:30AM GMT 18 Mar 2011
A study of 810,000 people, published today online in the British Medical Journal, found that those taking Avandia were 23 per cent more likely to suffer congestive heart failure and 14 per cent more likely to die while on it, compared to a similar medication. In addition, they were 16 per cent more likely to have a heart attack.
Last September the European Medicines Agency (EMA) suspended the licence for the drug, after 10 years on the market, saying the evidence of its harmful effects had tipped the balance against it being prescribed.
Today's study is further evidence supporting that decision. It analysed the results of 16 separate studies in 810,000 patients, of which 429,000 were on Avandia (also known by its generic name rosiglitazone) and 381,000 were on Actos (also known as pioglitazone). Most were over 60.
The drugs both belong to a class that help control blood sugar levels in patients with Type 2 diabetes.
It found that Avandia could have led to an extra 431 deaths per 100,000 people on Avandia, an extra 170 heart attacks and an extra 649 cases of heart failure.