Drug regulators in the US are investigating the blood pressure medicine Benicar as they suspect that it may be associated with heart-related deaths.
In a test carried out by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) it was found that the patients who took Benicare in two clinical trials had a higher heart-death rate than those who were given placebo.
The two studies in question are the long-term clinical trials, ROADMAP and ORIENT.
In the ROADMAP test, 4,400 patients were divided equally with half given placebo and the other half given Benicar. 15 of those given Benicar suffered a heart related death while only three of those who received placebo suffered heart related death.
557 people were involved in the ORIENT test and there were 10 heart related deaths among the Benicar group while only one from the placebo group.
The FDA still believes that the benefits of Benicar for those with high blood pressure outweight its potential risks and says those taking it should continue to do so unless told otherwise by their physician. They have also not officially proclaimed that it increase the risk of heart related death.
However, they have told Benicar users to immediately report any advers affects fromusing the product.