Tony Merchant of the Merchant Law Group is attempting to launch a class action lawsuit against the makers of Avandia, a popular Type 2 diabetes drug. He filed statements of claim Saskatchewan and Ontario on Monday, alleging that GlaxoSmithKline should have done more to warn consumers of the drug’s risks.
"(The plaintiffs) have suffered heart attacks or suffered loss of their vision, and in some cases they have died," Merchant alleged in an interview late Monday. "Every drug does some good or bad," he continued. "The question is whether people were sufficiently warned.
The drug in question, Avandia, is prescribed for Type 2 diabetes to control blood sugar by increasing the body’s sensitivity to insulin. The U.S. government health advisers made a recommendation to the Food and Drug Administration that evidence of an increased risk of heart attack from using Avandia does not merit its removal from the market.