Prepared Statement of Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) Regarding the Finance Committee Investigation of Avandia, November 15, 2007: “We place a great deal of trust in pharmaceutical companies to make safe and effective products.The health of millions of Americans, from young children to retirees, depends on the careful work of these drug manufacturers. Today, Senator Grassley and I are placing in the Congressional Record a Senate Finance Committee staff report which describes a very disturbing series of events related to the safety of the diabetes drug Avandia. The report presents evidence that a pharmaceutical company allegedly tried to intimidate a doctor who raised concerns about Avandia’s link to heart problems. This occurred after the doctor gave speeches at two scientific meetings where he warned of the cardiovascular risks to those using Avandia, a drug designed to control glucose levels in diabetics. To make matters worse, the company in question denied trying to intimidate the doctor in the
press. That claim is seriously challenged by emails presented in the staff report.”