janal
21-08-2008, 03:01 PM
For anyone interested this link was sent to me by a friend. It was in the Australian on the 21/8/08
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24215660-23289,00.html
Adam Cresswell | August 21, 2008
AN estimated 40,000 Australians taking the anti-diabetes medicine Avandia have been told to see their doctors for urgent review, after the guidelines on which patients should get the drug were rewritten following safety fears.
The changes, announced yesterday by Avandia's maker, GlaxoSmithKline, issue new safety warnings for patients with medical conditions including mild forms of heart failure and unstable angina.
They slash the number of ways in which Avandia can be prescribed with other drugs.
Experts have warned patients taking Avandia to see their doctor first, and not to stop the drug on their own initiative.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration last year imposed a "black box" warning on Avandia, known generically as rosiglitazone, after scientific studies suggested it could increase the risk of heart attack.
The TGA welcomed the guideline changes yesterday.
A second drug called Avandamet, which combines rosiglitazone and another anti-diabetes drug called metformin, is also affected by the changes.
Under the new guidelines, rosiglitazone is no longer recommended to be prescribed with insulin, or as a triple treatment in combination with metformin and another drug, sulfonylurea, which helps the pancreas make insulin.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24215660-23289,00.html
Adam Cresswell | August 21, 2008
AN estimated 40,000 Australians taking the anti-diabetes medicine Avandia have been told to see their doctors for urgent review, after the guidelines on which patients should get the drug were rewritten following safety fears.
The changes, announced yesterday by Avandia's maker, GlaxoSmithKline, issue new safety warnings for patients with medical conditions including mild forms of heart failure and unstable angina.
They slash the number of ways in which Avandia can be prescribed with other drugs.
Experts have warned patients taking Avandia to see their doctor first, and not to stop the drug on their own initiative.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration last year imposed a "black box" warning on Avandia, known generically as rosiglitazone, after scientific studies suggested it could increase the risk of heart attack.
The TGA welcomed the guideline changes yesterday.
A second drug called Avandamet, which combines rosiglitazone and another anti-diabetes drug called metformin, is also affected by the changes.
Under the new guidelines, rosiglitazone is no longer recommended to be prescribed with insulin, or as a triple treatment in combination with metformin and another drug, sulfonylurea, which helps the pancreas make insulin.