Science / Medicine : 2 Heart Drugs Remain Useful

Two heart drugs that were dropped from a federal study earlier this year are still important in the treatment of patients with life-threatening irregular heartbeats, a Food and Drug Administration expert said last week.

Dr. Robert Temple, director of one of two FDA offices of drug evaluation, said that although the drugs encainide and flecainide are no longer recommended for use by patients with mild heartbeat problems, the drugs give doctors another way to possibly control very serious cardiac irregularities.

“The drugs are useful for those people who are in a fairly desperate situation,” he said in an interview. “There are a lot of drugs (to treat heart disease) and none of them work all the time. You need a full complement of drugs in that situation.”

Encainide is marketed by Bristol-Myers under the brand name Enkaid, and flecainide is sold by 3M Riker under the name Tambocor.