BAN ON DIABETIC PILL
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The use of rosiglitazone, marketed by drug major GalxoSmithKline as Avandia in many countries, has reported an increasing evidence of heart risk in studies worldwide. Many countries including The US withdrew the highly controversial drug from its shelves.
The union health ministry formed a six member committee to take decision on the widely prescribed drug. The committee decided to ban the drug with immediate effect all over India. An estimated five million diabetics in India are still using the drug, mainly in smaller cities.
“Though a safer alternative like pioglitazone is available, it is not entirely free from side-effects. These include weight gain, fluid retention and increase risk of fractures. Therefore, it is important that this replacement is done only in consultation with a doctor. Besides, other classes of anti-diabetic drug are also available.
“There are two basic issues in the causative factors of diabetes. One is dysfunction of pancreatic beta cells which leads to insulin deficiency. Second, reduced sensitivity of different tissues to circulating insulin (the so-called insulin resistance).
Indians are perceived to be more insulin resistant as compared to Europeans and, therefore, drugs which will improve insulin resistance are attractive for the management of diabetes in Indian patients. The commonest drug which reduces insulin resistance is Metformin which predominantly acts on the liver. The other class of drug molecule which reduces insulin resistance is glitazones. The first glitazone to be marketed in the world, including India, was rosiglitazone in the late 1990s. This drug has been a focus of controversy since 2007 after publication of a report which stated that it can cause heart attacks.
HARD FACTS:
* USFDA had first sounded an alert against rosiglitazone’s possible side-effects in 2007. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine had found that Avandia put users at a 60 per cent greater risk of heart failure and a 29 per cent greater risk of death than other medication.