Avandia

FDA report says Avandia should be taken off market: report

GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK, GSK.LN) diabetes medicine Avandia weakens the heart sufficiently to increase users' chances of the heart attacks and heart failure, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration report obtained by the New York Times, the paper reported on its Web site Friday night for its Saturday edition.

Citing the FDA report, the Times said that "if every diabetic now taking Avandia were instead given a similar pill named Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure would be averted every month because Avandia can hurt the heart."

"[The drug] should be removed from the market," the FDA report said, according to the Times.