A panel was convened to discuss the question, "Is blood pressure lowering the sole determinant of outcome, or do specific drugs make a difference?" The panel was moderated by Marvin Moser, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Panelists included Norman Kaplan, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, TX, and William Cushman, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, TN. The discussion was supported by Boehringer Ingelheim, and each author received an honorarium from Boehringer Ingelheim for time and effort spent participating in the discussion or reviewing the transcript for intellectual content before publication. The authors maintained full control of the discussion and the resulting content of this article.