Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Report : Crestor Fails to Reduce Heart Failure Deaths

Crestor failed to cut down deaths in older people with heart failure in a recent study, a finding that suggests it won't be prescribed more widely in those patients.

The study was released at the yearly American Heart Association's meeting in Orlando, Florida. Source here.

According to the study, 11.4 percent of those on Crestor died or had a heart attack or stroke when compared with 12.3 percent given a placebo. All patients got aggressive drug therapy for the underlying heart failure.

The trial study had 5,011 patients tracked for an average of 2 1/2 half years. While Crestor didn't cut death rates in the study, the drug helped patients avoid hospitalizations and marginally lowered heart attack and stroke rates.

For more, go here.