The Avandia Controversy
The debate over Avandia's safety is creating a rift among specialty doctors and leading to charges that patients are being put in danger. Endocrinologists, who treat diabetics, tend to regard the data, which was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, with skepticism, pointing to weaknesses in the study, particularly when compared to more rigorous clinical trials. Cardiologists and drug safety experts, including study author Dr. Steven Nissen, are more alarmed, though even they are recommending that patients not go off the drug without first consulting their physicians. Caught in the middle are the diabetes patients already taking Avandia, which sensitizes the body to insulin. Doctors say many patients are confused and scared, which raises concerns that they may stop taking the drug without medical consultation.
