Q. I am a practicing emergency physician and I must take issue with your statement that atenolol and other beta-blockers should NEVER be stopped abruptly. Stopping such a medicine suddenly is usually unwise, but if a patient is in complete heart block as a reaction to the medication, you bet we stop it immediately. Not to do so would be malpractice.
A. Thank you for the explanation. In an emergency room, under intensive supervision, ordinary guidelines don’t apply. We do want to emphasize, though, that patients should not stop a beta-blocker such as atenolol, metoprolol or propranolol suddenly on their own. Doing so might land them in the emergency department with chest pain, an irregular heart rhythm or even a heart attack.
