Consumer watchdog Public Citizen is seeking a ban on ‘Avandia’, a pill prescribed to Type 2 diabetes patients. The drug has been linked with a number of deaths resulting from liver-failure and other complications.

The group has petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration to have the drug removed from the market. Drug maker GlaxoSmithKline has countered the petition with its own claim saying Avandia had a good safety record and was not found to cause liver problems. Asked about its link with heart disease, the company said clinical trial results have been inconclusive and gave assurance that if taken according to doctor’s directions, the drug was “safe and effective”.

In its petition Public Citizen said the drug was “unacceptably dangerous” and quoted 14 cases of liver failure, including 12 deaths that resulted from taking Avandia. Among other complications the drug is also said to increase the risks of heart attacks, heart failure, anemia and loss of eye-sight.

The company said that thiazolidinedione (a.k.a. glitazones) – generic name of the class of drugs to which Avandia belongs, is most effective as oral medication for glucose control in Type 2 diabetes patients. It said it had its own external panel of experts who review reports of liver issues arising from the drug. These experts gave it a green signal as recently as July 2008 suggesting Avandia’s safety profile remains impeccable.

Public Citizen provides a comparison between Avandia and an older drug glipizide. The group also found 39 times more incidence of macular edema (accumulation of eye fluids that can lead to sight-loss) compared to glipizide.

The controversy about Avandia was stirred up last week after two medical societies released international guidelines for treating Type 2 diabetes patients. The guidelines said that Avandia could not be recommended in view of the toxicities associated with it.