The Utah Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline for illegal marketing of its type 2 diabetes drug Avandia, defrauding the state's Medicaid program out of $7.8 million between Jan. 2001 and June 2010, according to a news release from the Utah Attorney General's Office.
Starting in 1999, GSK allegedly misrepresented to the Food and Drug Administration Avandia's benefit of reducing diabetic cardiovascular risks and touted the drug as a better alternative for lowering blood sugars than other competing drugs. However, the lawsuit cites various studies, including one published in the New England Journal of Medicine, that found Avandia significantly increased diabetics' risk of heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular events compared to other competing drugs.
Avandia was recently removed by regulators from the European market, and the FDA has recently restricted its use in the U.S.
Read the news release about Utah's lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline.
Read other coverage about GlaxoSmithKline:
- GlaxoSmithKline Execs May Face Prosecution Following Settlement
- GlaxoSmithKline Will Pay $750M to Settle Medicaid Fraud Lawsuit
Starting in 1999, GSK allegedly misrepresented to the Food and Drug Administration Avandia's benefit of reducing diabetic cardiovascular risks and touted the drug as a better alternative for lowering blood sugars than other competing drugs. However, the lawsuit cites various studies, including one published in the New England Journal of Medicine, that found Avandia significantly increased diabetics' risk of heart attacks and other serious cardiovascular events compared to other competing drugs.
Avandia was recently removed by regulators from the European market, and the FDA has recently restricted its use in the U.S.
Read the news release about Utah's lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline.
Read other coverage about GlaxoSmithKline:
- GlaxoSmithKline Execs May Face Prosecution Following Settlement
- GlaxoSmithKline Will Pay $750M to Settle Medicaid Fraud Lawsuit