How Effective and What is the Cost and Cost Benefit of Atenolol?

Executive Summary

• Atenolol is taken for blood pressure management, among other reasons.
• What was never done with Atenolol’s FDA approval was to evaluate any cost-benefit for this drug.

Introduction

Atenolol is a very widely prescribed drug. I will analyze this article’s cost, effectiveness, and cost-to-benefit analysis.

The Atenolol Cost

Generally, in the US, generic Atenolol is very inexpensive.

Atenolol is quite inexpensive. 

The History of Atenolol and Its Effectiveness

These quotes are from the book Malignant: How Bad Policy and Bad Evidence Harm People with Cancer.

One of the first drugs used to treat hypertension was atenolol. Atenolol, a member of the beta-blocker class of antihypertensives, dramatically lowered blood pressure, and for decades it achieved the rarefied status of “trial standard,” meaning that you had to show your new drug was as good as atenolol in order to get it on the market.

In 2002 something really unsettling (or maybe even terrifying) happened. After atenolol had been used to treat hypertension for nearly 20 years, the results of theLIFE trial were published. This trial compared atenolol to a newer drug, losartan. People who took losartan had fewer strokes and lived longer than those that took atenolol. At first glance it seemed that we had come up with a better antihypertensive; this seemed like an example of replacement. Somewhat surprising was that both drugs lowered blood pressure the same amount.

The question was, did losartan beat atenolol because losartan is better or because atenolol is actually ineffective? The tantalizing finding in the LIFE study was extended in 2004, when a pooled analysis of all people who took atenolol versus sugar pills (placebos) in trials showed that atenolol was no better than the placebo. Atenolol did lower people’s blood pressure, but it did not decrease people’s risk of dying or of having a heart attack.

Let that sink in.

A drug that was widely used, accepted as the standard of care, had made millions and millions of dollars for its manufacturers, and had made high blood pressure the subject of dinner time conversation, did not make you live a single day longer.

A recent study showed that metoprolol (another beta-blocker) is no better than atenolol. If you have taken a beta-blocker for high blood pressure, you may have shaved a few percentage points off your risk of stroke, but you did not extend your life.

In the world of blood-pressure medicines, you took a pill that does not work.

Curiously, all of this has been known for some time, yet it has not changed clinical practice. Atenolol remains a top-selling drug for blood pressure. Furthermore, Atenolol has expanded from its original use of blood pressure modification to treating things like anxiety.

Comments on Atenolol

The following comments are from Drug.com on Atenolol.

Comment #1: Better Results With Red Beet Supplements?

“I was prescribed Altenolol for minor high blood pressure due to pain. I’m not one take medication. The first day taking Altenolol. I was very fatigued.