Roger Drake: Attorney Believes More Avandia Cases To Come

Lawyers and Settlements
July 27, 2008
By Brenda Craig

Los Angeles, CA: The legal team at Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman in Los Angeles is among the most successful drug liability litigators in the country. It has fought and won hundreds of personal injury and wrongful death cases against pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) related to the antidepressant Paxil. Now attorney Roger Drake at the firm is representing a large number of people in another suit against GSK, this time related to the drug Avandia.

“I believe there are a lot of people out there who have had events associated with Avandia that have not yet come forward,” says Drake. “They should know it is not too late to do it.”

Licensed in 1999 as a medication to control blood sugar levels in people suffering from diabetes, Avandia is used by more than 2 million people worldwide and generates more than $3 billion in annual sales.

The problem is that Avandia may also generate heart attacks and other types of cardiovascular problems. Although GSK insists its drug is safe, questions remain.

“It was just over a year ago, on May 21, 2007, that the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published an article that made the link between heart problems and Avandia,” says Drake.

The NEJM study reported diabetics using Avandia had a 43 percent increased risk of heart attack, and a 64 percent increased risk of dying from cardiovascular problems, when compared with people not using the drug.

Since then, Drake and the lawyers at Baum, Hedlund, Aristei & Goldman have filed a number of lawsuits against the maker of Avandia, and are continuing to investigate many other cases for clients who have come forward claiming that they or a family member has had heart problems associated with Avandia.  Read the full article >>