American watchdog? Try a bad drug lawyer

Drugs can be a deadly business. Not just street drugs, but prescriptions. A personal injury lawyer is the best resort for patients and families after injuries or a death caused by a prescription drug, like Avandia.

American watch dog

Americans rely on the Food and Drug Administration to protect them from deadly drugs and devices. The agency’s mission statement says that it is “responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security” of drugs prescribed for humans.  But the mission statement also says that the FDA is responsible for “advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines “…more effective.”  Can speed win out over safety, making the FDA’s goals contradictory on occasion?

Ineffective federal safeguards 

Prominent critics have faulted the FDA for keeping new drugs on the market when some suspect they  do more harm than good.  Vioxx is an example. Avandia may be next.  Avandia was considered one of the best drugs for Type 2 diabetes in 1999. Since then, studies have linked it to heart attacks, liver toxicity and hypoglycemia.  The drug, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline , helps the body use its own insulin. But GSK’s own web site warns that Avandia can cause serious heart problems. Citing conflicting studies, the FDA left Avandia on the market last fall while calling for new warnings on prescription labels and a new review of the potent pill. But it won’t be complete until 2014.

Personal injury lawyers win big

And that’s where personal injury lawyers help. In 2005, a Texas personal injury lawyer won $250 million for the family of a marathon runner who died of a heart attack after taking Vioxx for arthritic pain. As early as 2000, suspicions were raised that it caused heart attacks. But it stayed on the market until 2004. The skills of an experienced personal injury lawyer are a must when patients and their families have to go up against high-powered insurance company lawyers representing major drug manufacturers. Cases against Avandia are now being filed around the country.

Avandia Lawyer | PPH can be serious side effect of Avandia |Does Avandia cause heart attacks? | Scientists dispute Avandia claims | FDA seeks Avandia, Actos 'Black Box' warning | Avandia and Heart Attack Risks: Conspiracy of Silencing | Should Patients Stop Taking Avandia? | Did Journal rush to judgment on Avandia? | An Avandia lawyer can help | Avandia study yields doubts about drug | Popular diabetes medication increases risk of heart attack