FDA Panel: Keep Avandia on Market

A majority of federal health experts has voted to keep the controversial diabetes pill Avandia on the market despite evidence that it increases the risk of heart attack. A panel of Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 20-12 against withdrawing GlaxoSmithKline's once-blockbuster drug. The agency is not required to follow the group's advice, but it usually follows the advice of its advisory committees.

Panelists who voted to keep the drug on the market were split between several options, including adding new warning labels and restricting use of the drug. Avandia has been under federal scrutiny since 2007, when an analysis first suggested it might cause heart attack. (More Avandia stories.)