[Misleading advertising claims about the indication of doxazosin (Cardura) for type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension].
A number of Dutch medical journals have carried an advertisement promoting doxazosin in the treatment of hypertension in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. No long-term randomised clinical trials have examined the cardiovascular outcomes of the alpha-adrenergic blockers to which doxazosin belongs. The drug was removed from the largest study into blood pressure and cholesterol reduction ever performed until now (the antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment to prevent heart attack trial), due to an increased incidence of cardiovascular events and in particular congestive heart failure. The clinical significance of its insulin-sensitivity improving and lipid-neutralising effects in small-scale, short-term, small patient-group studies are ambiguous. Accordingly, national and international guidelines omitted the drug in their treatment recommendations. The advertisement claims are therefore misleading.
Hoogenberg
K
K
Martini Ziekenhuis, afd. Interne Geneeskunde, Postbus 30.033, 9700 RM Groningen. k.hoogenberg@mzh.nl
van der Tuin
J
J
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000329:Advertising / Q000592:standards*; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications*; D017292:Doxazosin / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology; D009426:Netherlands; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D017292:Doxazosin