Pfizer Disputes Cancer Link To Ca Blockers

On August 24, the UK medical journal The Lancet published an article suggesting that some calcium antagonist antihypertensives might cause or promote cancer. The article said a study of 5,000 men and women over the age of 70 in the USA found that those who took calcium antagonists were 70% more likely to develop cancer. Out of the all those enrolled, 451 had been using the drugs.

Pfizer said that the findings run counter to an overwhelming body of scientific evidence which points to the safety of the drugs, including "rigorous animal testing for carcinogenicity." The firm also cited an Israeli study of more than 5,800 elderly patients taking the drugs, which found no increase in either cancer or heart disease. Both the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency support this view, noted the company.