Dear Doctor... Regarding Calcium Channel Blockers-Reply

Abstract

In Reply. —Bayer Corporation believes it acted appropriately in the dissemination of the Dear Doctor letter that Dr Stryer and colleagues refer to in their letter. It is our position that the letter by an internationally recognized expert in the treatment of hypertension defending CCBs and nifedipine in particular was a physician-to-physician communication that did not promote, or even mention individual brands, and therefore did not fall under the purview of advertising and labeling regulations. The letter restated this expert's well-known position on the study by Dr Psaty and colleagues1and was written by him without any remuneration for his time and effort. In fact, this dialogue