GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): Heart Disease And Smoking Guns

A leading diabetes expert says that he wrote the FDA about the heart risks of GSK diabetes drug Avandia. That was seven years ago. More recently, New England Journal of Medicine released a study that brings up the same concerns.

While the letter makes the FDA look bad, it makes GSK look worse. The company's CEO say concerns that the drug may be dangerous are "an overreaciton".That may be true, unless you are a patient who became ill from taking it.

The incident raises the nettlesome problem, once again, of the desire for profit at drug companies versus the imperative of safety. Recent cases, like the one surrounding Merck's Vioxx, show some sign that the profit motive often wins out.

It will be a long time before Wall St.knows whether GSK faces any liability for potential harm caused by the drug, but the 7% decline in the stock over the last three days certainly flags a strong concern.

Douglas A. McIntyre