[Misleading advertisement of Adalat Oros]

Abstract

Referring to the INSIGHT trial published in The Lancet, Bayer Netherlands states in an advertisement in Dutch medical journals that nifedipine reduces cardiovascular events by 50% in patients with hypertension and at least one additional risk factor. However, the agent studied in the INSIGHT trial did not reduce cardiovascular events in comparison to treatment with a diuretic. On the contrary, the incidence of myocardial infarction increased (fatal infarction even increased significantly), and the risk of stroke was not significantly reduced. Therefore the advertisement is misleading.