Posts Tagged Probenecid

UK’s National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence doesn’t think so.  In December it issued guidance that the benefits febuxostat (sold in the US under the brand name Uloric®) have not been clearly demonstrated.

The argument is that the pharmaceutical companies tested febuxostat against a fixed dose of 300mg of allopurinol per day.  Even though this is the way most doctors prescribe allopurinol, it is not the best way to use it according the expert “best practices” guidelines.   The appropriate way is to adjust the dose of allopurinol until uric acid levels are lowered to below 6mg/dL (333µm/L).  Allopurinol can safely be prescribed up to 900mg/day.

Because the pharmaceutical companies did not show that febuxostat was more effective than allopurinol when allopurinol is used this way, and because of the cost and other risks, they concluded that for most people it best to just stick with allopurinol.
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