Heart drug is more harm than good

A well-established heart disease drug significantly increases the risk of death in seriously ill patients, doctors said yesterday. The finding comes from a European study of the effect of ibopamine on the survival of almost 2,000 patients with advanced heart failure.

Patients were randomly assigned the drug or an inert placebo. It was found that a quarter of the patients in the ibopamine group died, compared with 20 per cent of the placebo group.

The study, originally designed to include 2,200 patients, was stopped early because of the unacceptable number of deaths among those taking ibopamine. Previous research has shown that ibopamine improves symptoms in patients with mild heart disease.

The drug is prescribed as a well-established treatment in several European countries, although not currently in the UK.

The results of this study, headed by Professor John Hampton, of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Queen's Medical Centre, University Hospital, Nottingham, were said to have led to restrictions on its use in countries where it is licensed.