Submitted by A Physician From Southwestern Virginia, Nov 14, 2007 13:54

The FDA has broken new ground in the creation of utterly stupid black box warnings. This time the victim is Avandia (rosiglitazone).

Let us be reminded that this is the same FDA that told America SSRI's could increase the risk of "suicidality" in depressed teenagers, while suppressing the little detail that their definition of "suicidality" excluded any instance in which a depressed teenager actually killed themselves during treatment with SSRI's for depression.

We now turn to today's the headline: "WASHINGTON (AP) -- The widely used diabetes drug Avandia got a new warning label Wednesday telling patients that it may, or may not, increase the risk of heart attacks."

This writer feels obliged to announce that, by these lofty standards of reasoning, several new black box warnings may be expected from the FDA within the coming year:

Hydrochlorothiazide may, or may not, increase the risk of misplacing one's car keys.

Insulin may, or may not, increase the risk of lightning striking one on top of the head during late summer golf outings.

Who the heck are these people at the FDA, anyway? Did we elect them? Did somebody appoint them? Is there any possible way we can we replace them, say, with my two cats Tom and Jane?

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