A new study in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology (AJO) has linked a group of glitazone diabetes drugs to an increased risk of developing diabetic macular edema, or DME. Popular diabetes drugs such as Avandia and Actos are two of those drugs who have seen their share of problems over the past few years.

AJO Study

The recent study published in the April 2009 issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology identified nearly 1,000 patients out of a database of approximately 170,000 diabetics who were diagnosed with DME in 2006. Researchers found that patients who took glitazones (a new class of drugs for the treatment of type 2 diabetes) were 2.6 times more likely to develop DME than patients who did not take glitazones such as SmithKlineBeecham’s Avandia and Takeda Pharmaceutical’s Actos.

Doctors should be aware of dangerous drugs

Researchers warned that ophthalmologists treating patients with DME should consider how the class of glitazone drugs affects those patients. Thomas Liesegang, the Editor-in-Chief of the AJO, was quoted as saying:

Ocular complications are an overlooked safety issue of systemic drugs. Safety is as important as the efficacy of a drug. However, long term safety is not currently monitored because the approval process is based on smaller, shorter term clinical trials. Safety necessarily requires monitoring of treatment in larger groups of people over longer periods of time. This monitoring is often neglected and should be required of all therapies.

Product liability lawsuits

Results of the study certainly don’t help these pharmaceutical giants who already face numerous product liability lawsuits. Previous studies have linked Actos (pioglitazone) and Avandia (rosiglitazone) to a possible increase in bone fractures and myocardial infarctions, or heart attacks. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that injured victims are not preempted from suing drug manufacturers in state courts, additional litigation is very likely.

To speak with an attorney involved in the Avandia litigation, click here.