- anaesthetic awareness
- birth injury
- brain haemorrhage
- cancer misdiagnosis
- cauda equina syndrome
- cerebral palsy
- cosmetic surgery
- dental negligence
- gynaecology errors
- laparoscopy surgery
- medical negligence solicitors
- neonatal conditions
- obstetric cholestasis
- surgery negligence
- gastric band surgery
- prescription errors
Avandia - Medical Negligence Compensation
Thousands of clinical compensation claims are initiated every year in the United Kingdom by medical negligence solicitors on behalf of people from all walks of life. A multitude of operations and procedures are executed successfully however a small percentage do go wrong, laying the grounds for medical negligence solicitors to take legal action in order to claim compensation. Both legal aid and the no win no fee scheme are available to pursue medical negligence compensation claims.
Please contact us for help pursuing your claim.
Medical Negligence Compensation Claim Solicitors Helpline 0844 332 0095
Avandia is a diabetic drug that has the generic name of rosiglitazone. It acts by increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin. This means that it only acts on those people who have type II diabetes because people with type I diabetes have no circulating insulin of their own. You can't take insulin and Avandia together and you can't take it with nitrates either.
Avandia is not related to the sulfonurea class of drugs, to the biguanide class of drugs or to the alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. Avandia is supposed to be used along with healthy diet and exercise to improve the glucose numbers on the glucose meter and in your system.
The manufacturer recommends that you take four milligrams per day, either as a single dose or in two divided doses. If you don't respond after 8 to 12 weeks, your doctor will likely recommend you increase the dose to eight milligrams or take it along with metformin or sulfonurea medications. You can take the drug with or without food. A total of 8 milligrams per day is the maximum recommended dose of Avandia you can take per day.
If you have bad kidneys, you still can take Avandia at the recommended doses. This is not true of other diabetic medications, such as metformin. If you have liver problems, you should have your liver checked before taking the drug and for several months afterward. This is because it can make more stress on your liver. Avandia is not recommended in children.
In the clinical trials on Avandia, about 9900 patients were treated. On a short term basis, the main side effects were upper respiratory symptoms, injury, headache, back pain, high blood sugar, sinus symptoms, tiredness, low blood sugar (rare) and diarrhea. It didn't seem to matter if the drug was taken with other drugs or was taken alone. Low red blood cell counts (anemia) and swelling of the extremities was also reported in a small number of patients. Swelling/edema was reported in about five percent of those taking Avandia and increased if 8 milligram tablets were taken (12.4 percent). Heart failure was shown in 2 percent of those on 4 milligrams of Avandia and in 3 percent of those on 8 milligrams of Avandia. A few people got low blood sugar on Avandia when it was mixed with sulfonurea medications. It got better when the sulfonurea dose was decreased.
When people took Avandia for a long time (4-6 years), it was fractures in women that showed the highest percent at 9.3 percent. This is why it should not be used in women with osteoporosis. Fractures occurred in the upper arm, the hand and the foot most commonly. This phenomenon was not seen in men. Other side effects were nasal and pharyngeal symptoms, pain in the low back, arthralgias, high blood pressure, upper respiratory symptoms, low blood sugar, and diarrhea.
Kids who took Avandia in a study showed higher than normal rates of headache, nasopharyngitis, nausea and diarrhea. One kid got markedly elevated blood sugar on Avandia and some also got ketonuria.
In May of 2007, the FDA issued a warning regarding Avandia. The warning noted that there was an increased risk of heart injury in patients taking the drug. There appears to be an increase in heart attack and heart failure when taking the drug that wasn't originally found in research studies. Another study showed a 43 percent increase in the incidence of heart attack in those who used Avandia. A black box warning came out in November of 2007. There have been law suits against the company with regard to the use of Avandia and the incidence of heart attack.