Alcoholism Drugs Work in Study That May Dispel Physician Doubts

Four medicines to treat alcoholism worked to reduce addiction, a study found, providing evidence that may overcome skepticism and spur greater use of the drugs.

Naltrexone, a generic medicine, acamprosate, sold under the brand name Campral by Forest Laboratories Inc., Johnson & Johnson’s seizure medicine Topamax and H. Lundbeck A/S’s Selincro, helped alcoholics reduce their drinking, an analysis of more than 120 studies found. The oldest U.S.-approved alcoholism drug -- disulfiram, also known as Antabuse -- didn’t prevent a return to drinking, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.