Quoted from http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2009/10/31/researchers_question_anemia_drug_benefits/
Researchers question anemia drug benefits
Performs no better than placebo in trial
By Elizabeth Cooney
Globe Correspondent / October 31, 2009
A drug commonly prescribed to treat anemia in patients with both type 2 diabetes and kidney disease worked no better than a placebo in reducing deaths or cardiovascular problems it was thought to prevent, according to a paper published online last night. Instead, people who took the drug, Aranesp, were almost twice as likely to have strokes as patients given a dummy pill.The study, led by Boston researchers, is the first trial to compare this class of anemia drugs with a placebo in the ability to prevent death and serious complications - even though the drugs have been in use for decades.
“The risks of the therapy were bigger than we thought, namely stroke, and the benefits were less than we thought, in quality of life,’’ said Dr. Marc Pfeffer, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who led an international group studying Aranesp, which raises red blood cell levels.