Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

New warnings for the type 2 diabetes drug rosiglitazone, better known by the brand name Avandia, has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The warnings, including a black box warning, will be immediately added to the safety labeling and packaging for Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate), as well as other drugs with the same active ingredient, including Avandament (rosiglitazone maleate/metformin hydrochloride), and Avandaryl (rosiglitazone maleate/glimepride).

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While an expert panel in the U.S. reviews evidence to decide whether to pull the popular diabetes drug Avandia off the market due to an increased risk of cardiovascular events, BusinessWeek reports that the drug’s maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), has agreed to pay about $460 million to settle lawsuits alleging the company hid evidence that Avandia increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. GSK faces more than 13,000 lawsuits and has agreed to settle about 10,000 of them. Avandia was to face its first trial in federal court in October. BusinessWeek reports that the FDA review helped prompt the company’s decision to settle the suits.

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