E-drug: NEJM this week: Clinical trials ethics (cont'd)
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I don't doubt that ARIs are useful drugs but the evidence (there
have been at least half a dozen surveys over the years) is that most
doctors are woefully ignorant of drug costs, not only absolute costs
but also the cost of one drug relative to another. I'm worried that
these studies will prompt doctors to use the ARIs as first-line rather
than try the less expensive ACE inhibitors and only move to the
ARIs if there are problems with the ACE inhibitors.
Joel Lexchin MD
121 Walmer Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M5R 2X8
Tel: +1-416-964-7186
Fax: +1-416-923-9515
e mail: joel.lexchin@utoronto.ca
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