A week after an FDA advisory panel voted to allow Avandia to remain on the market, the same regulatory agency put a halt to a controversial study in which Avandia was compared to its chief rival Actos in terms of effectiveness in treating diabetes. The FDA ordered Avandia manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline to stop enrolling candidates for the study.
The Boston Globe reported that the Avandia study was halted because the FDA needed more time to study the risks associated with Avandia. This may strike some as odd since Avandia risks have been well documented since the 2007 Cleveland Clinic study first determined that Avandia was a risky drug that was not effective in treating diabetes.