Near Death Experience on Avandia

-Lawyers and Settlements

06/13/2008- Otis is a coach and teacher at a high school in Texas. He was put on Avandia for his diabetes approximately five years ago. In the fall of 2006 he was hospitalized for a heart attack, possibly an Avandia heart attack. At the time he was unaware of the problems with avandia--but that was about to change.

"My work is very physical, so I have always been reasonably healthy," Otis said. "Before I had my heart attack I never reported any type of heart problems. Then, one Sunday in October, 2006, I became very ill. I was at a football game. I became very thirsty, and couldn’t stop drinking water. I noticed that my ankles were very swollen. I didn’t feel well, and I couldn’t speak properly. So I was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. The doctors in the emergency room diagnosed me with congestive heart failure (CHF). My wife, who is a nurse, was told I'd had a myocardial infarction."

Otis remained in hospital until his swelling had gone, but for the next three months he was in and out of hospital. "I was very surprised. I am a diagnosed diabetic, and I have high blood pressure, but I’ve never had any heart problems. In fact, in August of that year I had had a complete physical, and nothing showed up."

But there were some tell tales signs- -the swelling, as well as difficulty breathing, and sleeping, all symptoms associated with Avandia. "When I first noticed the swelling in my ankles I went to the doctor, and they checked me out, but they didn’t mention any problems with my heart," Otis said. "They put me on diuretics to reduce the fluid and the swelling."

Following his heart attack and subsequent trips to the hospital, Otis underwent pacemaker implantation in January of 2007. "That’s when they told me that they wanted to schedule me for a new heart," Otis said. Like so many people, it wasn’t until Otis saw the ads on television, and read some information on the Internet that he realized that the symptoms he had experienced were being duplicated in people all over the country who were also taking the drug. "I told my doctor that I didn’t want to take Avandia anymore, and she agreed. But she never mentioned anything about the drug not working properly." Nor did the doctor Otis was seeing before he moved to Galveston, who originally prescribed the Avandia, or any of the doctors in the hospital.

"For the last year, since I’ve had the pacemaker, I feel much better. But I am on a lot of medications- including diuretics," Otis said. "I am waiting to see a specialist about a heart transplant." So what’s the bottom line in all of this? "I never had any of these problems before I started taking Avandia." Now he is seeking legal assistance to help him get some answers.

If you or a loved one have experienced an Avandia heart attack, or Avandia stroke, Avandia congestive heart failure, Avandia cardiovascular disease or if you have lost a loved one to an Avandia death you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Avandia attorneys of Ennis & Ennis today for a free confidential case evaluation. Our on staff nurse and lawyers are standing by to answer any questions you may have regarding Avandia's side effects, a possible Avandia class action lawsuit, or any other type of Avandia litigation.