The two deaths bring the total number of patients who died within one month of being treated with Natrecor to seven. The study was conducted three years ago, but Scios said they only recently learned about the the two other deaths, reports HealthDay.
The news has lead one cardiologist to demand that the Food and Drug Administration take the drug off the market, reports the Associated Press.
Scios, which is a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, says its confident that the recently reported deaths do not mean an increased risk for patients being treated with Natrecor.
New York cardiologist Dr. Jonathon Sackner-Bernstein believes the drug should be taken off the market. He was the lead author of a report that criticized Natrecor last year. It was published in the Journal of American Medical Association.
"What it says to me is the information we published, if anything, understates the risks associated with the drug," Sackner-Bernstein tells the AP.
Natrecor was approved by the FDA in 2001 to treat serious breathing problems associated with heart failure.
