SPOTLIGHT: Eleven die in Aricept trial

Eleven people died in a clinical trial of Eisai's Alzheimer's therapy Aricept for vascular dementia compared to no deaths in the control group. But Eisai noted that it was unusual to see such a low number of deaths for any group in an Alzheimer's trial and that previous trials never indicated a significantly greater risk of death for patients taking Aricept. Preliminary efficacy results show that those who received donepezil improved on measures of cognition, but not global function. Release