Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Elderly Put At Risk By Procardia, Adalat

Compiled From Wire Services

Elderly people with high blood pressure who took one kind of calcium channel blocker drug were nearly twice as likely to die within five years as those treated with other drugs, federal scientists say.

The drug is the short-acting form of nifedipine, which is marketed as Procardia by Pfizer Inc., and as Adalat by the Bayer Corp.

The National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md., said a study in four communities confirms earlier reports raising concerns about the hazards of short-acting nifedipine. The study also reinforces a warning from federal health officials in August that the drug should be used “with great caution, if at all.”

The findings are being published today in The Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.