A new paper was published on these findings and MedCo filed for a new patent for the drug as a treatment for heart failure specifically in black patients.The new patent and the old patent were then licensed to a company called NitroMed, which ran a clinical called the African-American Heart Failure Trial (A-HeFT), the results of which were published in 2004 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The clinical trial was stopped early because the drug showed significant benefit; it reduced mortality by 43%, reduced hospitalizations by 39%, and improved quality of life markers in African-American patients with CHF.On the basis of A-HeFT, the FDA approved BiDil in June 2005. In 2006, the Heart Failure Society of America included the use of the fixed dose combination of isosorbide dinitrate/hydralazine as the standard of care in the treatment of heart failure in blacks. : e44

Society and culture
Controversy
The new drug application claiming treatment of a single, self-identified racial group raised a storm of controversy.
Uniparental disomy (UPD) occurs when a person receives two copies of a chromosome, or of part of a chromosome, from one parent and no copy from the other parent. UPD can be the result of heterodisomy, in which a pair of non-identical chromosomes are inherited from one parent (an earlier stage meiosis I error) or isodisomy, in which a single chromosome from one parent is duplicated (a later stage meiosis II error). Uniparental disomy may have clinical relevance for several reasons. For example, either isodisomy or heterodisomy can disrupt parent-specific genomic imprinting, resulting in imprinting disorders. Additionally, isodisomy leads to large blocks of homozygosity, which may lead to the uncovering of recessive genes, a similar phenomenon seen in inbred children of consanguineous partners.UPD has been found to occur in about 1 in 2,000 births. Pathophysiology
UPD can occur as a random event during the formation of egg cells or sperm cells or may happen in early fetal development. It can also occur during trisomic rescue. When the child receives two (different) homologous chromosomes (inherited from both grandparents) from one parent, this is called heterodisomic UPD. Heterodisomy (heterozygous) indicates a meiosis I error if the gene loci in question didnt cross over. When the child receives two (identical) replica copies of a single homologue of a chromosome, this is called an isodisomic UPD. Isodisomy (homozygous) indicates either a meiosis II (if the gene loci in question didnt cross over) or postzygotic chromosomal duplication.