Study shows Abbott’s Uprima ineffective for most UK patients

Researchers at the UK’s Drug Safety Research Unit and University of Portsmouth analyzed prescribing data for 11,185 patients seen by NHS family doctors. The data was gathered from official Green Form Questionnaires that ask doctors to record any significant events recorded in a patient’s notes after prescribing newly marketed medicines.

Uprima was discontinued in the UK in January 2006. The 11,185 forms covered patients who were first prescribed Uprima between October 2001 – three months after the drug was launched in the UK – and December 2002.

Key findings included that 65% of doctors said their patient stopped taking Uprima because they felt it wasn’t effective and 14% said the patient didn’t request a further prescription.

Further analysis showed that 59% of patients who didn’t find it effective stopped taking Uprima after a month and a further 23 had joined them by month two.

In addition, 70% of family doctors felt the drug wasn’t effective.