December 6, 2007Pharmacy companies drop Avandia over health concerns
Two U.S. pharmacy benefits managers have announced that they have dropped Avandia from the list of drugs they carry due to concerns about the side effects of the drug. Studies have linked Avandia to an increased risk of heart attack, congestive heart failure, osteoporosis and other conditions.The decision by Prime Therapeutics and HealthTrans to stop carrying Avandia is the latest of several moves by some health care providers to end or restrict access to the diabetes drug. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has already decided to severely limit access to Avandia.
Prime and HealthTrans said in statements that their decision to stop carrying Avandia was made after reviewing existing studies about the risks of Avandia side effects. The first major sign of the potential dangers of the drug came in May with the publication of a study in the New England Journal of Medicine about the heart risks of Avandia. The study found that patients taking the drug were 43% more likely to suffer a heart attack and 64% more likely to die from heart problems than other patients.
In the wake of the study—and fueled by the decisions of some doctors or health care providers to stop prescribing the drug—sales of Avandia have fallen by 48% since the third quarter of 2006.