The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking a second look at the diabetes drug Avandia, with an agency report already suggesting that the drug’s attendant risk of heart problems may not be as serious as reported.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Avandia, originally approved in 1999, was once a blockbuster for GlaxoSmithKline. But a 2007 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine said the drug caused heart problems. ...
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An item on investing blog Seeking Alpha advises readers not to own stock in the pharmaceutical company Merck, in part because of safety risks associated with its products.
The item mentions a recent study published in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers concluded that a type of drugs for type 2 diabetes called GLP-1 atagonists, which include Merck’s Januvia and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Byetta, double a patient’s chances of developing pancreatitis. ...
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The New York Times reports on the efforts of Dr. Peter C. Butler, an internationally recognized diabetes expert described as a “crusader” for his attempts to warn about an apparent link between certain medications and potentially deadly pancreas ailments.
The report says Butler’s involvement in the issue began when he did a study on behalf of pharmaceutical manufacturer Merck, to test the effectiveness of its drug Januvia in treating diabetes.
When Butler ...
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In a recent issue of the journal Diabetes Care, Peter Butler, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles weighs in on recent research showing a potential link between certain diabetes drugs and an inflammation of the cancer called pancreatitis, as well as pancreatic cancer.
Butler himself was lead researcher for a study published in the journal Gastroenterology, which reported higher rates of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer in patients taking the ...
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A news release from Johns Hopkins goes into detail about a study, led by one of the institution’s researchers, which concluded that people taking the diabetes medications Byetta and Januvia are twice as likely to be hospitalized with pancreatitis.
Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that’s often a precursor to pancreatic cancer.
Results of the study were published online in the medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers concluded that sitagliptin and ...
continue reading...According to Reuters, Merck’s quarterly sales of diabetes drug Januvia – the company’s biggest product – took a nosedive in quarterly sales, which has investors concerned.
Overall, shares of the company fell 1.6 percent to $46.23 for the quarter. Though the company’s profit beat forecasts for the quarter, the Reuters story attributes that largely to a favorable tax rate.
Januvia has been the subject of some health concerns recently. Studies have linked ...
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