Members of the government agency overseeing the health and safety of pharmaceuticals have recommended that Avandia, a diabetes medicine, be removed from the market, saying hundreds of people on the drug are dying of heart attacks and heart failures each month, according to The New York Times.

As reported earlier this month on our New York Injury Lawyer blog, the Food and Drug Administration is also urging stronger warning labels for Meridia, a popular diet drug, after reports of an increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

The recall of Avandia is the latest in a long string of high-profile drug recalls, including Vioxx in 2004 and Fen-Phen, another popular diet drug linked to liver damage. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions developing and promoting drugs. But, when medication touted as life-saving turns out to have deadly consequences, a New York City medical malpractice attorney or New York defective product lawyer should be contacted to protect your rights.

The government reports obtained by The New York Times said if every diabetic now taking Avandia, were instead treated with a similar medication, called Actos, about 500 heart attacks and 300 cases of heart failure could be averted each month. The government contends Avandia damages the heart and was linked to 304 deaths during the third quarter of 2009.

Some government officials within the Food and Drug Administration want Avandia, which is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, to be removed from the market; other agency officials contend studies of the drug provide contradictory information and want the drug to remain an option for doctors and patients.

GlaxoSmithKline contends that scientific evidence does not establish that Avandia increases the risk of heart attacks. The debate has been brewing for years but made news again recently after a Senate investigation concluded the drug maker should have warned patients earlier about the drug's potential risks.

Avandia was once one of the world's best-selling drugs. Driven by multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns, the company sold more than $3.2 billion worth of the drug in 2006 alone. Sales began to fall after a Cleveland Clinic study in 2007, which found that the drug harmed the heart. The FDA issued a warning about the drug but voted 8 to 7 to allow it to remain on the market.

The New York Times reports that hundreds of thousands of patients still take the drug.