Avandia has been at the center of a fierce debate since 2007 when "Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Steven Nissen published a study ... suggesting there was as much as a 40 percent increase in risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, stroke and death among users" (Maugh and Zajac, 9/23). The Hill's Healthwatch: "Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who along with ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) led a two-year inquiry into the drug, applauded the decision. The consumer group Public Citizen wasn't satisfied. 'By failing to ban the dangerous diabetes drug, Avandia, generic name rosiglitazone, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) again caved to industry pressure,' Health Research Group Director Sidney Wolfe said in a statement" (Pecquet, 9/23).

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