Short Dialysis Times Impair Effectiveness of Anemia Drug

U.S. medical researchers believe that improperly administered kidney dialysis reduces the effectiveness of a drug designed to treat anemia.

The study concludes that the drug erythropoietin loses some of its ability to help the body replenish red blood cells if a clinic tries to save money by shortening the time a patient is hooked to a blood-cleansing dialysis machine.

The finding, in the Feb. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, may help explain why the death rate among Americans undergoing dialysis is roughly double the rate in Europe and Japan.