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Diabetes Drug Withdrawn Over Heart Risk Fears
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Email StoryPrint StoryDiabetes drug Avandia will be pulled from the market over concerns the drug could be linked to the risk of heart attack, says the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Skip related content
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Diabetes Drug Withdrawn Over Heart Risk Fears
Enlarge photo .The agency said in a statement Avandia "will stop being available in Europe within the next few months".

It said marketing of the product should be suspended and no further prescriptions issued while the suspension is in place.

Professor Kent Woods, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), said: "Patient safety is the top priority for the MHRA and we have been constantly monitoring the situation regarding rosiglitazone."

He said patients currently receiving the drug should have their treatment plans reviewed and changed where appropriate.

Sky News' health correspondent Thomas Moore said: "There was compelling evidence that the risks of using Avandia outweighed its benefits, so it was inevitable that the medicine's watchdog would act.

"But the 100,000 diabetics in Britain who use the drug shouldn't panic and suddenly stop taking it - the risks to an individual in the short term are small.

"They should see their doctor, who will switch them to an alternative medication."

The decision by the EMA comes as government health regulators in the US ruled that access to the drug should be restricted but stopped short of an outright ban.

They will allow GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to continue selling the controversial pill.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says new patients will get a prescription for Avandia only if they cannot control their diabetes with other medication.

"The FDA is taking this action today to protect patients, after a careful effort to weigh benefits and risks," said the agency's commissioner Margaret Hamburg.

"We are seeking to strike the right balance to support clinical care."

It is the second time in three years that the agency has decided to leave Avandia on the market despite increasing pressure from medical experts and politicians to recall the drug.

The FDA first approved the drug in 1999 and it became the top-selling diabetes pill in the world.

But its use has plummeted since a 2007 analysis linked the drug to heart attack risks.