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Article: Heart drug still used for wrong - and potentially dangerous - reasons. (nifedipine, Procardia, Adalat)
- Article from:
- Medical Update
- Article date:
- January 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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So-called calcium channel blockers -- used to treat high blood pressure -- have been used successfully for 20 years. One is nifedipine, marketed as Procardia by Pfizer and Adalat by the Bayer Company. In its long-acting form, it can safely be used to lower blood pressure over time. In its short-acting form, with which blood pressure can be dramatically lowered within minutes, it can produce disastrous results -- strokes, heart attacks, and other serious and sometimes fatal complications.
Yet the use of short-acting nifedipine has become standard practice in many doctors' offices and emergency departments, despite the warning 11 years ago by an advisory ...