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News Articles >> Did Avandia Damage My Liver?
Did Avandia Damage My Liver?
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| April 9, 2008. By Lucy Campbell |  RSS  Del.icio.us  Seed Newsvine  Facebook |
Elverta, CA: Like a lot of middle-aged Americans, Jerry has type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, all of which are controlled by medications considered to be safe and effective in treating these illnesses. Early last year, under his doctor's supervision, Jerry began taking Avandia, a medication that helps control insulin levels in people with diabetes. Just recently Jerry was told that he has quite bad scarring of his liver, or liver damage. He suspects it could be due to the Avandia.
"I had to undergo surgery for a bleeding colon. The doctor who did the operation was the one who told me about my liver. He said my liver looked really bad - almost like I have cirrhosis of the liver -there's a lot of scarring on it," Jerry said.
Cirrhosis, and severe scarring of the liver are serious. According the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it is the twelfth leading cause of death by disease, responsible for approximately 26,000 deaths every year in the United States. The CDC also notes that "The cost of cirrhosis in terms of human suffering, hospital costs, and lost productivity is high."
In a nutshell, the presence of scar tissue on the liver reduces the capacity of the liver to perform its normal functions, which include removing toxins, bacteria, and germs from the blood stream. These are just some of the many essential functions the liver performs. So any damage to the liver is potentially very serious.
Luckily, Jerry had seen the news reports about Avandia causing heart failure. During the past 18 months the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made public several reports about Avandia, also sold as Avandamet, and known generically as rosiglitazone. They concern the increased risk for cardiac events in patients with type 2 diabetes who are taking the drug, and who are already at increased risk for heart disease and related deaths.
"I thought maybe the Avandia was responsible for my liver. There's no reason why I should have cirrhosis," he said. "The way my doctor described my liver, it was pretty bad. I didn't know why." So when Jerry got home from the hospital he went on the Internet to find out more.
"When I looked up Avandia, I saw that it could cause liver damage. I was taking Avandia for at least six months," he said. "When my doctor put me on it he didn't mention anything about the side effects." In addition to heart failure and liver damage, the side effects of Avandia also include shortness of breath, and respiratory problems. "I'm a truck driver so I don't exercise like I should. But sometimes I get really short of breath," Jerry said. It is possible that the Avandia could have made his breathing worse as well? Jerry doesn't know. And, he doesn't know if the Avandia caused the scarring of his liver, but he does know that up until now he hasn't had a history of liver problems.
So what has happened as a result of Jerry's Internet investigation? "I quit taking Avandia, my doctor took me off of it," he said. And, he would like to speak with a lawyer to help him find out more about the potentially lethal side effects of Avandia. Jerry is only 64 years old. He should have many productive years ahead of him. A lawyer could help him get the information he needs, and potentially help him avoid further problems down the road.
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