By Lisa S. Cummings
Are you or any loved one carrying out combinations of treatment courses while diagnosed with diabetes? If yes, then this medical news information on how some pairings of drugs are increasing death rates in diabetic patients should interest you and be a wakeup call for physicians and authors of clinical guidelines.
Some research and many reports on studies demonstrate the increased mortality rates in diabetic patients with combinations of drugs, such as sulfonylurea and metformin. In Medscape Medical News explain about the results of more signals that are concluded from studies are shown in the media, emerging from other trials and even during the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2013 Meeting. In 1996, there was a first study in which found an increased death rate in the combination group of metformin with sulfonylurea. Some observers are not overly concerned about this issue and believe there is not much evidence, such as Medical Doctor, Cornelius J. Tack who says that “this is kind of an old story repeating”. Not only did New York or U.S. population found mortality rates to increase in diabetic patients taking these first-line or second-line treatments, but is also found in studies within some European Countries. Dr. Currie explains that a better option for combination therapy with metformin is pioglitazone but this drug isn’t freely available. According to a second study, the combination of the two drugs translated into a 35 percent increased risk for all-cause mortality amoung patients compared to those patients who use treatments combining metformin and DPP-4 inhibitor.
As a litigation firm with New York malpractice attorneys, we believe it is our part to highlight the potential risks of sulfonylurea and metformin use in diabetic patients, making sure others are protected from destructive practices.
