Misleading advertising claims about the indication of doxazosin (Cardura) for type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension
Hoogenberg, K.; van der Tuin, J.
Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde 146(44): 2099-2100
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-2162 PMID: 12448967 Document Number: 548388
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.