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Reminiscent of Vioxx, which Merck pulled off the market in 2004 after it was shown to cause heart attacks in some patients, an analysis to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that Avandia, a widely used pill to treat adult-onset, or Type 2, diabetes, raises the risk of heart attack by 43 percent. Over a seven-year period, taking Avendia raises the chance of a diabetic having a heart attack from 20.2 to 28.8 percent, meaning that possibly tens of thousands of people had heart attacks as a result of taking the medication. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has advised that patients not discontinue taking Avandia on their own, but that they first discuss the situation with their doctor. Of particular concern is that for six months the F.D.A. has known of the increased cardiac risk, which was reported in an analysis submitted to it by the manufacturer of Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline. Questions have been raised as to why diabetics and their doctors have not

The news last week was filled with various reports concerning the manner in which pharmaceutical manufacturers market their products, such as OxyContin, anemia medicines, and atypical psychotics, including ways in which doctors are encouraged to prescribe their products, even to children. The U.S. Senate passed, by a vote of 93-1, a bill that gives the Food and Drug Administration additional authority to regulate drug advertising, among other powers such as the ability to order changes in drug labels. The bill was passed in large part as a reaction to the experience with Vioxx, where it took 14 months to change the drug's label to warn doctors and patients of known dangers. A bill in the House of Representatives is expected to be passed by July. Perhaps coincidentally, also last week the maker of the powerful painkiller OxyContin, Purdue Pharma LP, and three current and former executives pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $634.5 million to settle criminal and civil claims th

On May 9, 2007, former President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker at the annual New York State Trial Lawyers Law Day Dinner. President Clinton spoke eloquently about the rule of law, telling the audience that his travels to fledgling democratic countries throughout the world, he is compelled to stress that democracy is not only about majority rule. Rather, democracy is also about individual rights, minority rights, and adherence to constitutional principles, in order that no single person or group can become too powerful. President Clinton reminded those in attendance that in representing clients in court, trial lawyers are giving their clients their right to be seen and heard, even against the most powerful segments of our society. In his speech, the 42nd President also discussed what can and must be done regarding what he views as being the most pressing problems facing the United States and the world in the 21st century: global warming, resource depletion, and th

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