The University Group Diabetes Program

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The basic conclusion of the University Group Diabetes Program on tolbutamide is: "the findings of this study indicate that the combination of diet and tolbutamide therapy is no more effective than diet alone in prolonging life. Moreover, the findings suggest that tolbutamide and diet may be less effective than diet alone or than diet and insulin at least in so far as cardiovascular mortality is concerned."1With no evidence of efficacy and a definite possibility of toxicity the investigators concluded that the safety of the patients still receiving tolbutamide therapy required its discontinuance and that the factual basis for this decision needed to be communicated to the biomedical scientific community. This prudent decision and moderately worded conclusion has been received by some critics with a hostility which has no discernible scientific basis. The following analysis is largely confined to Dr. Schor's analysis (see page 1671). In general, independent repetition