Source: Forbes
The biggest-selling diabetes drug in the world dramatically increases the risk of heart attacks and death from heart problems, according to an analysis by a top cardiologist published online in The New England Journal of Medicine. Millions of patients have been prescribed the pill, Avandia, since it was introduced eight years ago. Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline stands to lose much of the $3 billion it makes annually on the pill if the criticisms prove true. Heart attacks are the leading cause of death in patients with diabetes. Rival Actos, from Japanese drug maker Takeda, does not seem to cause heart attacks and may prevent them.

If Avandia does boost heart risk, the repercussions will reach far beyond GlaxoSmithKline or even the patients who may have been harmed by the drug. Right now both houses of Congress are debating bills that would reform the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; these bills must be passed by September or the FDA will have inadequate funds. A drug safety scandal could reignite the congressional debate, putting Big Pharma back on the defensive. Some of the toughest reforms, like a proposal to create a separate FDA office that would track side effects and yank products from the market, have fallen by the wayside. [more]