Texas Woman Says Avandia Killed Her Husband
Posted by
Mike SimonJuly 07, 2007 8:19 AMPeggie Stanford has filed a wrongful death suit against GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of diabetes drug Avandia, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Stanford claims her 60-year-old husband, Larry, had been using an Avandia variant when he died of a heart attack earlier this year. Stanford suffered the fatal heart attack the same day that the New England Journal of Medicine published findings that from a study aimed at discovering whether Avandia exposes users to a heightened risk of heart attack.
This is the first wrongful death suit aimed at GlaxoSmithKline for its Avandia product, but the company is facing a shareholder suit, a class action, and a personal injury suit in other federal courts. Peggie Stanford alleges that GlaxoSmithKline "unjustly enriched itself by deceiving Larry Stanford, his family, and the public by not disclosing its knowledge of the 'various studies' allegedly showing an increased heart attack risk with Avandia." The pharmaceutical giant recorded $2.2 billion in Avandia sales in 2006.
Peggie Stanford is seeking at least $75,000 in punitive, compensatory, and exemplary damages citing strict product liability for the "defective design and marketing of the drug."
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