The Diabetes Conspiracy: How the Avandia Scare Changed Diabetes Care Forever

PR Log (Press Release) – May 26, 2009 – Diabetes Conspiracy

I bought my Honda Civic Hybrid after watching Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and Who Killed the Electric Car, the latter of which tells how despite a overwhelming acceptance of consumers for an electric car, the project was killed. The documentary demonstrates that many had a role in killing the electric car including the government, car manufacturers and big oil; but never really gives an answer on who literally pulled the plug. In a similar fashion, the timeline (located at www.drmintz.com) shows that there are many involved with various motivations and biases that have likely forever changed the way type 2 diabetes is managed. The cause for my concern is that important guidelines and public policy have been enacted and influenced by stakeholders with their own personal motivations and by using not entirely evidence based data to make these decisions; and these decisions (in my opinion) are not in the best interest of patients with type 2 diabetes

According to dictionary.com, a conspiracy is an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot. Though I doubt there has been any legal wrong doing, and it is unclear whether or not the likes of Graham, Nissen, Spitzer, Nathan or others sat together to conspire to wipe out any new treatments for diabetes (though I suspect that it was Graham who tipped off Nissen to the GSK data), it seems clear that muliple players with their own interests, which are not necessarily in the best interest of patients with type 2 diabetes have created hysteria surrounding Avandia that has not only led to decreased use of this product, but also led to decreased use of other newer products and more importantly the delayed availability of newer products to market. It might be possible that we may never see a new diabetes product again, either because proving diabetes safety is too challenging, or the pharmaceutical companies choose to invest in "friendlier" areas.

Spitzer's biases are obvious. Nissen found the path to fame, and possibly to the head of the FDA, was through "busting" drugs. Graham found that best way to get what he wanted was to become a FDA whistle blower. The reasoning behind Nathan's dislike of all new diabetes agents remains unclear, but endocrinologists (who make their living by prescribing insulin) have a vested interest in seeing insulin prescribed.

Physicians, patients, policy makers and the public should be aware that the whole Avandia issue is a house of cards. Fortunately, this house of cards may soon come down with data to be published in a few weeks