Conference report: Niacin/laropripant combination (Tredaptive) associated with increased risk of bleeding and infections

Source: Reuters Health News Area: News Reuters Health News has reported that according to data presented at the annual American College of Cardiology scientific meeting, niacin in combination with laropripant (Tredaptive) was associated with statistically significantly higher rates of bleeding (2.5% vs 1.9%), and infections (8.0% vs 6.6%) compared to patients taking simvastatin or simvastatin/ezetimibe. They called the differences unexpected.   Additionally, patients taking Tredaptive also experienced higher rates of serious health problems that researchers said are known side effects of niacin, which included new-onset diabetes (9.1% vs. 7.3%), diabetic complications (11.1% vs. 7.5%) and gastrointestinal problems (4.8% vs 3.8%).   Further details of the trial were not presented in this Reuters report.   [Editor's note: Tredaptive was withdrawn from the UK market in January 2013]
Source: NeLM - Cardiovascular Medicine - Category: Cardiology Source Type: news