Somewhere in the vast sea of data, press releases, and presentations at conferences, the blood pressure issue was specifically mentioned as a transient and manageable event. The PolyMedix data is meaningless because the doses were vastly higher and more frequent than the seemingly effective much lower dosages they are testing.
Any medication taken to excess can cause a significant adverse effect -- for instance, digitalis has been used safely since the 18th century for cardiac conditions -- but take too much, and you are on the autopsy table. Take a few Tylenol for a headache and it will help, take too many and you need a liver transplant, if you survive the overdose.
The potential transient spike in blood pressure is far less risky than the risks that many commonly used antibiotics have. Permanent deafness, spontaneous tendon rupturing, diarrhea, disorientation, and many more side effects have been well documented for Cipro, yet it continues to be commonly prescribed -- as my colleague tragically discovered, a previously healthy and active 50 year old who is now wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life because of a reaction to it. Compared to that, I think his doctors would have greatly preferred managing a one-day or less spike in blood pressure, and perhaps temporary numbness and tingling in his limbs (IF in the worst-case scenario he had those side effects).
Let me say it again: THE POLYMEDIX DATA IS MEANINGLESS BECAUSE IT WAS FROM VASTLY HIGHER AND MORE FREQUENT TREATMENT REGIMENS.