A drug for type two diabetes is still being prescribed in the UK despite being recommended for withdrawal two months ago, BBC Panorama has found.
Avandia has been linked to a raised risk of heart attacks and heart failure and is under a Europe-wide review.
An expert panel of the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said its use should be suspended but it is still available on the NHS.
Manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said it was safe if properly monitored.
Some Avandia cons and pros….so for it to be beneficial, you’ll have to do a bit of hop-skip-&jump (and you have to smoke, as it supposedly protects you from lung cancer – nudge,nudge @teloz )
Some Avandia cons and pros….so for it to be beneficial, you’ll have to do a bit of hop-skip-&jump (and you have to smoke, as it supposedly protects you from lung cancer – nudge,nudge @teloz )
Funnily enough, Avandia is a drug I’ve never been prescribed for my T2ishness, so whether or not it would have delayed my progression to insulin dependency is a moot point. Given the fact that I already have the odds stacked against me, the increased risk of cardiovascular problems may have been irrelevant.
@ckoei – I don’t think it would have done me any good, given my genetic background I’m far more likely to die from emphysema than lung cancer, though the probability is that a massive heart attack will remove all uncertainty! (You may have noticed I have no illusions about my smoking habit!)
Seeing that insulin insensitivity is the central problem of T2s, it is mystifying that there’s only a measly three agents to choose from (make that 2, ’cause both Pio & Ros are from the womb of Thia… and Ros has been proven to be persona non grata). Or make that zero if you have a sensitive gut and a wobbly ticker…
@teloz: You should go push your rattling insulin-pump-on-a-trolley down the corridors of those who dish out funding for these things…and bugger the 5% of poll voters who say “close the taps” !