Study Supports Controversial Heart Fa...( But small short-term trial is unlikel...),Health
But small, short-term trial is unlikely to quiet Natrecor's critics
MONDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) -- A new study supporting the safety of Natrecor, a widely used heart failure medication, is another volley in the ongoing battle over the drug.
Critics have charged that Natrecor, which costs about $500 a dose, adds little to patient outcomes and, in fact, may raise their risk of kidney failure and death.
However, the new study of 75 patients -- the first prospective trial of its kind -- showed no such trend during the week after the drug was given to patients hospitalized with heart failure. The study found Natrecor to be safe when given to those patients it was developed for: people with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).
"ADHF is really a broad definition," explained the study's lead author, Dr. Ronald Witteles, an instructor in cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. "It encompasses anytime that patients with heart failure are hospitalized. They could be hospitalized for too much fluid and the so-called 'congestive' symptoms of heart failure. It could also be because their heart simply cannot pump enough blood to their organs."
The new finding, published in the Oct. 30 online edition of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, isn't appeasing the drug's detractors, however.
"It's not enough to say, 'I have done a small study of 75 people, and [Natrecor] isn't heinous enough to see that it's bad, so how bad could it really be?' You actually have to show that it is safe," said Dr. Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein, associate chief of cardiology and director of the Heart Failure Program at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, in New York City.
He co-authored a 2005 retrospective analysis of data from three trials. It found that hospitalized heart failure patients who got Natrecor (nesiritide) faced an 81 percent higher risk of dying within
'/>"/>
| Copyright©2007 ScoutNews,LLC. All rights reserved |
Related medicine news :
1. Rural Canadians travel far for specialists: study
2. A new study surpasses Gene Therapy Hurdle
3. Tomato Sauce reduces Cancer Risk- Study
4. A question on study of Adult Stem Cell
5. Study on obesity and heart failure
6. National Lung Study in the process
7. Marijuana gateway theory strengthened by study of twins
8. Old theory of adaptation confirmed by new study
9. Study casts doubt on keyboard ills
10. Gene study links endometriosis, infertility
11. Study reveals how stress can make you sick
 Study Supports Controversial Heart Failure Drug |
| Copyright © 2003-2009 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved. ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |  |