Consumer group asks government to ban Avandia

Still think there is safe drug to "cure" your overfatness.

"The government should ban the diabetes drug Avandia because of a wide variety of life-threatening risks, including heart and liver damage, a consumer group said Thursday.

The consumer group, Public Citizen, filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration to have Avandia taken off the market.

It was the second setback in as many weeks for the GlaxoSmithKline medication, which at one time had shown great promise in reducing the blood sugar levels of people with Type 2 diabetes. Last week, the American Diabetes Association and a European counterpart jointly released updated treatment guidelines for doctors that pointedly recommended against using Avandia.

'The FDA is in possession of clear, unequivocal evidence that (Avandia) causes a wide variety of toxicities,' Public Citizen said in its petition. 'Many of these are life-threatening, such as heart attacks, heart failure (and) liver failure.'...

Avandia's heart risks were brought to light two years ago in a medical journal article that reported a 43 percent higher risk of heart attacks among Avandia patients when compared with those taking other diabetes drugs. Although scientists are still debating a link between the drug and heart attacks, concerns about the medical evidence led to stronger warnings."

And they will find problem after new problem with diet drugs, too.

It is only a matter of time.

Why risk it?

Lose the weight properly.