Advair
Advair, manufactured and distributed by GlaxoSmithKline, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2000. Advair is a commonly prescribed medication that combines salmeterol with a steroid in order to relieve sudden asthma attacks. Doctors warn against using Advair on a regular basis, as some patients have suffered severe, and even fatal, side effects from using the drug. The FDA recently required that Advair packaging include a black box warning label. Prior to this requirement, consumers were not warned of the risk of suffering a fatal asthma attack as a result of using Advair and similar salmeterol-based drugs. The failure to properly warn consumers may constitute negligence on the part of the manufacturer, making GlaxoSmithKline liable for the injuries and deaths caused by their product.