Safety, efficacy, and lipid profile of doxazosin at a VA medical center.

The Veterans Administration Lakeside Medical Center (VALMC) is a 500-bed hospital located in downtown Chicago providing a broad scope of inpatient and outpatient medical services for more than 12,000 veterans. The VALMC Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee requested a study to evaluate doxazosin mesylate (Cardura) to determine if this agent would be an acceptable alternative to other formulary agents. It appears that doxazosin provides several therapeutic advantages, including once-daily dosing, when compared with other more costly antihypertensive agents.