US meeting nears on risks of Glaxo diabetes drug

A heated three-year safety debate about a GlaxoSmithKline Plc diabetes pill reaches a climax this week as opponents and backers face off at a US meeting that will help decide the drug's fate.

A panel of scientific experts meets later Tuesday and again Wednesday to consider if Avandia is too dangerous to stay on the market. The advisers to the US Food and Drug Administration must sort through sharply conflicting data on whether the medicine causes heart attacks. The recommendations of the panel, with 33 voting members, are expected to weigh heavily on the FDA in making its final decision in the coming months.