GlaxoSmithKline sued in death of man who took Avandia

A Texas family is suing GlaxoSmithKline, saying that its anti-diabetes drug Avandia contributed to the death of a 60-year-old man.

Larry Alan Stanford died May 21, the same day that a report was published in The New England Journal of Medicine claiming that Avandia increased patients' risk for a heart attack. The lawsuit claims Glaxo knew of the dangers of the drug and continued to sell it to patients, including Stanford, who died of a heart attack.

The news comes a week after a New York law firm filed a class-action shareholders lawsuit against Glaxo, a British drug maker that has North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park and 6,000 Triangle employees.

The company has faced media scrutiny, congressional hearings and a faltering share price in the weeks since the New England Journal study was published. Glaxo maintains that Avandia is safe to take and that the New England Journal study was flawed.