Diabetes is the seventh most common cause of death in Singapore. Avandia is a panacea to diabetes, as it treats it by targeting the source of illness. It is the most potent medicine in treating this deadly disease which had been made available in Singapore after it was approved by the Ministry of Health in the year 2000.

A recent news report may confuse the people who are taking Avandia in order to cure diabetes. According to the report, two U. S. drug safety reviewers recently unveiled that Avandia may prove more harmful to the heart as compared to some other medicine of a rival company. They recommended that the medicine should be pulled from the market.

GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of Avandia defended its drug by saying that the scientific proof did not conclude that Avandia increases the risk of heart disease.

Earlier, in a study conducted in 2007, it was concluded that Avandia increases the risk of heart attack by 43%. As a result the US Food and Drug Administration declared that Avandia's labeling should include a boxed warning, so that the doctors may be advised about its appropriate use. The doctors continued to prescribe it, with more caution.

Dr Lee Chung Horn, from Gleneagles Medical Centre said, “Doctors who use Avandia should adhere to the guidelines for its use. It should not be used in patients with heart failure or significant heart disease because of its potential to cause fluid retention and heart failure”.