New U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations imposed upon the controversial diabetes drug Avandia will prohibit local retail pharmacies to carry the medication due to a confirmed risk for heart attack and other cardiovascular complications.

This motion applies to three anti-diabetes drugs manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, Avandia, Avandamet and Avandaryl, that contain rosiglitazone - a drug that increases sensitivity to insulin and removes extra glucose from blood.

Effective November 18, 2011, the aforementioned GlaxoSmithKline medications will only be available to patients who have either safely used the drug previously, unsuccessfully controlled their blood sugar with other diabetes medications,or choose to take rosiglitazone( Avandia) despitehaving been properly informedof the involved risk. Furthermore, the FDA implemented the Avandia-Rosiglitazone Medicines Access Program. This program certifies that physicians who prescribe the drug have read understand the conditions for prescribing to patients and agree to explain associated risks completely; the patient must also enroll in the program and sign a consent form that certifies he/she understands the cardiovascular risks described by the physician.

*In any other case, this formulated action to protect patients would be worthy of total praise and admiration, but let's rewind to September 2010 when the FDA first announced it would significantly restrict access to Avandia by implementing a restricted access program….8 months later the FDA finally announced that program.What took so long!? Surely, there must some urgency to develop a plan for a drug that is believed to almost double a patient’s risk of heart attack… don’t forget to take into account that approximately 23 million Americans have type-2 diabetes and the FDA estimates that 500,000 patients filled a rosiglitazone prescription over the course of 10 months in 2010, from January 2010 – October 2010 (the number of filled prescriptions has declined since the FDA’s medical warning in September).

Lastly, in 2007 while speaking to an advisory committee an FDA drug-safety expert stated that Avandia caused cardiovascular injuries and/or deaths for 66,000 - 200,000 people. You can only imagine how that number has climbed over the years.

The Avandia lawyers at Parilman and Associates want you to be aware of the serious risks involved. If you took Avandia and suffered any cardiovascular complication, we urge you to call the lawyers of Parilman and Associates at 1-800-391-8000 for a free consultation.