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

ByPrimary Researcher

Executive Summary

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

Introduction

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

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The Tenoretic Cost

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

Atenolol/Tenoretic is quite inexpensive. 

The History of Tenoretic 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 Tenoretic. Tenoretic, 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 Tenoretic in order to get it on the market.

In 2002 something really unsettling (or maybe even terrifying) happened. After Tenoretic had been used to treat hypertension for nearly 20 years, the results of theLIFE trial were published. This trial compared Tenoretic to a newer drug, losartan. People who took losartan had fewer strokes and lived longer than those that took Tenoretic. 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 Tenoretic because losartan is better or because Tenoretic is actually ineffective? The tantalizing finding in the LIFE study was extended in 2004, when a pooled analysis of all people who took Tenoretic versus sugar pills (placebos) in trials showed that Tenoretic was no better than the placebo. Tenoretic 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 Tenoretic. 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. Tenoretic remains a top-selling drug for blood pressure. Furthermore, Tenoretic has expanded from its original use of blood pressure modification to treating things like anxiety.

Comments on Tenoretic

The following comments are from Drug.com on Tenoretic.

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.