U.S. use of diabetes drug to be restricted further

Americans will be able to use the diabetic drug Avandia with new warnings and restrictions, but the drug is to be removed from the market in Europe.

The European Medicines Agency ruled Thursday that the drug should be pulled from the European Union market.

At the same time, Bloomberg News reports that GlaxoSmithKline Plc will be able to keep its diabetes pill Avandia on the U.S. market with new warnings about heart risks after a three-year battle that divided staff at the Food and Drug Administration.

London-based Glaxo must add new cautions to Avandia's prescribing information, the agency said Thursday.

While the decision to allow continued sales of the drug follows the recommendations of an FDA advisory panel in July, analysts say it is likely to spark increased criticism from doctors, lawmakers and consumer groups. It said the drug would be removed from the European market within the next few months.

Earlier this month, Britain's drug regulator said an independent panel of experts concluded Avandia raised the risk of heart attacks and recommended it be pulled from the market.

Avandia was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2000 to help lower blood sugar levels in diabetes patients, but its use was restricted only to certain patients.