Cimetidine and Antacids

Excerpt

To the editor: In his review of the clinical uses of cimetidine (1), Freston concludes that although "evidence that cimetidine is effective in controlling established bleeding is lacking . . . it seems reasonable to use combination therapy in preventing rebleeding . . . [especially] . . . if the bleeding is due to peptic ulcer disease." We believe, however, that the evidence supporting the combined use of antacids plus cimetidine to prevent rebleeding in peptic ulcer disease is also lacking or, at best, questionable.

Freston bases his conclusion on a multicenter study of 557 patients in whom the combination