Monday, May 28, 2007

Public Citizen on Avandia: We told you so

The Public Citizen Health Research Group took advantage of the Avandia controversy for a little self congratulation, saying in effect “We told you so”. But that may be a little deceptive. What they actually told us about was stuff we already knew and had addressed, principally related to the problem of fluid retention which can exacerbate heart failure, and which in no way anticipated the concerns raised by the NEJM meta-analysis.

Worse, they come just short of advising patients to unilaterally discontinue Avandia with this statement: We strongly urge patients - as we have for almost two and a half years - not to use this drug. Wouldn't it suffice to say "ask your doctor"?

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