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"Diabetes drug can dramatically raise heart attack risk, study finds"

Source: Vancouver Sun

Published: 22 May 2022

Category: Harm Stories

Rating: (1½ stars)

what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

WASHINGTON - A diabetes drug may dramatically increase the risk of heart attacks, said a study released Monday, prompting a U. S. government safety alert.
Rosiglitazone, sold under the name Avandia by British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, was linked to a " significant risk" of heart attacks and death from cardiovascular causes based on an analysis of dozens of clinical trials, said the study published on the New England Journal of Medicine's website.
While the study is not conclusive and more research is needed, the scientists wrote, the findings " are worrisome because of the high incidence of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes."...

how did it rate? (more information)

Criteria	Rating
Total Score	2 of 8
Novelty of harm	Not Satisfactory (?)
Benefit to harm ratio	Satisfactory (?)
Evidence	Not Satisfactory (?)
Quantification of Harms	Not Satisfactory (?)
Number of people affected by harm	Not Satisfactory (?)
Stratification of patients with regard to harm	Not Satisfactory (?)
Sources of Information	Satisfactory (?)
Treatment options	Not Satisfactory (?)
Relies on Press Release	Not Applicable

what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This is a 'harm' story where the substantive part of the story is the harm involved in a treatment. The story is based on a meta-analysis or analysis of a group of studies of the drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article scores "not satisfactory" on a number of key criteria, including failing to quantify the harm involved, not providing any information on which patients may be most susceptible to the harm of heart attacks, and not providing any sense of the strength of the evidence on which the new work is based. While some of this information may not have been provided in the original journal article on which this story is based, the journalist could have easily discussed the benefits provided by the treatment and the range of possible harms. . It says that the drug "was linked to a 'significant risk' of heart attacks" but it is not clear if these are statistically significant or clinically significant risks. There are a number of alternatives to rosiglitazone which may not carry this risk of cardiovascular and these are not mentioned at all in the story.

public forum

(20 Jun 2022) miller writes,

"in response to your forum on diabetes drugs i've been diagnose of having type II diabetes
in June 1985 i"ve been dealing with this illness for twenty two years , I know people who
have been coping with the same illness for years who are willing to try anything to better
their condition or even cure them of this illness that plague so many . shame on the drug
companies who profits from these drugs includes sulfonyurea, biguania, thiazolidinedione
and meglitinide, and of course theres insulin,they are just a bandage to a bigger problem.
and now I've read about Diamaxol, have you heard about it !!!! is this another one of the
pharmaceutical companies unexpected benefits."
(this comment has been moderated)

Media Doctor response,

"I haven't seen a media report yet on Diamoxol, but if there is a media report you can refer us to, we'll review it."

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