Avandia Off the Shelf

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “F.D.A. to Restrict a Diabetes Drug, Citing Heart Risk,” shows that consumer protections do work even if they take a little time to kick in.

The article describes a coordinated, and simultaneous, decision by the European Union and the United States to severely restrict access to Avandia, a drug once widely used to control the sugar level of people with type two diabetes.

The use of Avandia is totally suspended in Europe and severely restricted in the United States to those already taking it or who have testified they have tried everything else. The article finds that GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company that developed Avandia, restricted information about its side effect of increasing the risk of heart attacks for years, and the data was only found after it had been legally forced to post the results of clinical trials on its web site.

The F.D.A.’s decision occurred only after its powers over drug companies had been expanded in 2007 legislation, and the decision was seen as a continuation of the Obama administration’s effort to increase the focus on drug safety.

One side note due to the impending elections — one wonders if the Republicans’ laissez-faire attitude towards big business would have led to this decision if they were in charge. There are some times when regulatory decisions are necessary in otherwise free markets.