GSK - Avandia: "It is difficult for making a case for using rosiglitazone in anybody, because we have an alternative,"

The type 2 diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone) increases the risk of heart failure and death more than another drug in the same class, Actos (pioglitazone), new Canadian research contends.

Avandia has been the subject of controversy since 2007, when it was linked to an increased risk for heart attack and death, although those claims have become clouded as other studies have discounted that risk to some degree. But taken together, many believe that the drug should not be used, especially since there appears to be a safer choice.

"It is difficult for making a case for using rosiglitazone in anybody, because we have an alternative," said lead researcher Dr. David Juurlink, division head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

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