Finally, the FDA has stepped up to the plate and made a decision to take regulatory action for Avandia, a drug often prescribed for the treatment of type-2 diabetes. Restrictions are now in place which require GSK to submit a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy.
Because of this new action, diabetes patients can get Avandia only if they can't control their glucose with other medications or if medical reasons prevent them from trying an alternate drug. Patients already using Avandia can continue to do so if it is clear that there are receiving some benefit and that they understand the risk involved. This will require documentation on the part of the physician as well as patients reviewing literature that addresses cardiovascular risk.
But is this enough?In Britain, health officials have determined that Avandia could cause strokes or heart attacks and that the benefits do not negate the risk. As a result, 90,000 British diabetes patients have been told to stop taking it.
All of this is
not breaking news. For the past three years there's been growing evidence that using Avandia increases heart attack and stroke risk. As a matter of fact, GSK has had to settle about 10,000 lawsuits in America because patients have suffered serious medical consequences due to its use. But did the FDA issue a recall? No. Instead they chose only to monitor its use.
This is just another glaring example of what's wrong with traditional medicine. In the past 50 years the number of patients dealing with diabetes has increased more than 700%. More than one in four Americans have diabetes or are prediabetic, the condition that precedes frank diabetes. And while there are drugs offered up as a way to manage the symptoms, none do a thing to treat the root cause of the disease and can actually kill many of those who are prescribed them.
The real tragedy.Perhaps the real tragedy is that type-2 diabetes is completely avoidable. What’s more, nearly all cases can be treated without the need of dangerous pharmaceuticals. All drugs like Avandia simply lower glucose levels. Nothing more. The real damage caused by type-2 diabetes is due to elevated insulin levels. This can be treated through diet and exercise alone.
To make things even worse Glaxo-Smith-Klein knew about this damaging information yet chose to hide it for over 10 years. Why would they do such a thing? Because it would affect their bottom line profits, of course.
More and more evidence grows that drug companies are not about increasing the quality of life or saving it, but it's all about the money.
This kind of greed has led to 83,000 Avandia related heart attacks. What a price to pay, especially when you consider drugs aren't necessary to treat the disease in the first place.
