GlaxoSmithKline recently paid the US government $3bn for withholding data regarding Diabetes drug Avandia and settled over 20,000 lawsuits in the US.  Avandia was banned in Europe in 2010 due to its links with heart failure, strokes and premature death.  It had over 90,000 UK users and 1 million prescriptions in 2009 alone.

Express Solicitors is at the forefront of the UK fight for justice and hopes that the publicity arising from the US lawsuits may encourage UK claimants to come forward.

Avandia is the trade name for Rosiglitazone, a medication which the $600bn drug industry makes vast sums from; meaning that standards and rigour should rightfully be demanded by the consuming public.  It is also sold in the form of Avandamet when combined with Metformin – a drug previously used in the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes.

In 2007 a study was made by Steve Nissen which involved 42 clinical trials (28,000 patients).  The results indicated that Avandia could cause heart attacks which were backed up by results published in 2010 from separate trials.  The further research concluded a 27% increased chance of stroke, a form of traumatic brain injury; 25% higher likelihood of heart failure; 14% increase of deaths.  In 2010 the European drug regulator acted to ban the drug (although it was in some cases prescribed up to 8 weeks after the order to remove from shelves).

The US is a huge drug market and it seems that GSK has acted to quickly to resolve cases over there, leaving a distinct disparity of justice in the UK market; an imbalance which Express Solicitors is looking to redress by representing claimants on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.
This importance of using a firm like Express Solicitors is emphasised by the fact that the UK is withdrawing Legal Aid for medical negligence.

Avandia could have been responsible for 100,000 heart attacks in the US according to a scientist from the Food and Drug Administration.  A leading UK pharmacologist estimates that Avandia could have been responsible for 1,000 heart attacks and 600 cases of heart failure – per year – in the UK.