[print friendly]

atorvastatin (LIPITOR)

• atorvastatin (LIPITOR); lovastatin (MEVACOR); lovastatin extended release (ALTOCOR); pravastatin (PRAVACHOL); simvastatin (ZOCOR)
• rosuvastatin (CRESTOR)
  We list this drug as a Do Not Use drug because it causes kidney, muscle and liver damage.

• Calcium Channel Blocker Drug Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (May 2008)
  This article lists more than 60 prescription drugs that can interact with calcium channel blocking drugs such as amlodipine (NORVASC),diltiazem (CARDIZEM, DILACOR XR TIAZAC)or nifedipine (PROCARDIA)to either cause toxicity or to lessen the effectiveness of the calcium channel blocking drugs. Included in the lists are a number of drugs that we list in Worst Pills, Best Pills as DO NOT USE or LIMITED USE drugs. The article also explains the different kinds of toxicity that can ensue from these interactions.
• FDA and Drug Makers Should Have Warned Public Earlier About Zetia, Vytorin [hide all summaries]
  (March 2008)
  Find out why Worst Pills warned against the use of VYTORIN more than three years ago. Also, learn about new evidence showing that despite the fact that this drug lowers cholesterol, there is no evidence that it prevents heart attacks or strokes (though massive misleading advertising would have you believe otherwise).
• Macrolide Antibiotic Drug Interactions [hide all summaries]
  (February 2008)
  The article discusses the adverse drug interactions between either of two widely-prescribed macrolide antibiotics, erythromycin (as in ERYTHROCIN) and clarithromycin (BIAXIN)and more than 40 other drugs that are listed in a table in the article. It also describes the nature of the adverse interactions that can occur.
• Don't Get Sold By Drug Ads on TV, Says Study [hide all summaries]
  (May 2007)
  Not only does this study find that consumer drug ads are not educational, it also says that the ads may oversell the benefits of the drugs and could put the public health in danger. For example, of the 24 drugs included in this advertising study, seven are listed as Do Not Use in Worst Pills, Best Pills publications. You should not rely on direct-to-consumer television advertisements as a source of drug information.
• Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Can Cause Vision Loss [hide all summaries]
  (January 2006)
  We have asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to add black box warnings to the professional product labels, or package inserts, for the erectile dysfunction drugs sildenafil (VIAGRA), tadalafil (CIALIS), and vardenafil (LEVITRA). The warnings would alert prescribers to the possibility of irreversible vision loss with the use of these drugs.
• Rosuvastatin (CRESTOR) - The Most Dangerous Cholesterol-Lowering Statin Drug [hide all summaries]
  (July 2005)
  Further evidence that Crestor causes uniquely high rates of muscle and kidney damage
• A Review of Ezetimibe (ZETIA) and Ezetimibe with Simvastatin (VYTORIN) For Cholesterol Lowering [hide all summaries]
  (December 2004)
  We are concerned about any new drug but are particularly concerned about the use of ZETIA together with statins.
• Aspirin and Heart Attacks: Secondary Prevention, Yes; Primary Prevention, No [hide all summaries]
  (May 2004)
  Aspirin is the preferred preventive treatment for those who have already had a heart attack (secondary prevention), at least for the majority of people who are not intolerant to aspirin. However, the lack of evidence of an aspirin benefit in the primary prevention of heart attack is clearly outweighed by the increased risk of bleeding from aspirin, and you should not use aspirin for the primary prevention of heart attacks.
• Prescription Drug Ads and High Drug Prices: A Relationship? [hide all summaries]
  (April 2004)
  According to a supplement put out by Advertising Age in March entitled Fact Pack 2004 Edition, with additional information taken from Ad Age’s web site, the pharmaceutical industry continues to be quite adept at maintaining its place among the leading advertisers. Four of the top 25 U.S. advertisers, in terms of spending in this country during 2002, were drug companies. The article urges that you do not waste your time looking at or listening to prescription (or over-the-counter) drug ads.
• Do Not Use! Rosuvastatin (Crestor) - A New But More Dangerous Cholesterol Lowering 'Statin' Drug [hide all summaries]
  (October 2003)
  Rosuvastatin (CRESTOR) became the sixth cholesterol lowering "statin" drug on the U.S. There is no medical reason for you to be taking rosuvastatin when there are three safer and more effective statins, in terms of reducing cardiovascular events, on the market.
• New Safety Labeling Changes for Anticoagulant Warfarin (COUMADIN) [hide all summaries]
  (September 2002)
  Several new safety labeling changes have been required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the widely used anticoagulant drug warfarin (COUMADIN). These changes to the drug’s professional product labeling, or “package insert,” were made in May 2002. The article discusses the changes.
• Written Drug Information Sheets Distributed by Pharmacists Fail to Meet Minimum Quality Standards [hide all summaries]
  (August 2002)
  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced on June 18, 2002, the results of a national study to determine the extent of distribution and the quality of unregulated written drug information, known as “patient information leaflets” (PILs), produced by commercial information vendors to be disseminated by pharmacists to drug consumers when prescriptions are filled. The study’s results were appalling.

• Letter to FDA shows that Crestor has higher rates of rhabdomyolysis compared to other statins (HRG Publication #1729) [hide all summaries]
  Crestor (rosuvastatin) has 2.8 times the rate of rhabdomyolysis of the second most toxic statin, analysis shows
• Letter to FDA Renewing Call for Crestor to Be Removed From Market. Rate of Kidney Damage in Crestor Patients Is 75 Times Higher Than in Patients Taking Other Cholesterol Drugs (HRG Publication #1710) [hide all summaries]
  Letter to FDA Renewing Call for Crestor to Be Removed From Market. Rate of Kidney Damage in Crestor Patients Is 75 Times Higher Than in Patients Taking Other Cholesterol Drugs (HRG Publication #1710)
• Comments before FDA Drug Safety Advisory Committee on Patient Drug Information (HRG Publication #1629) [hide all summaries]
  The failure of the private sector to meet the quality goals established in The Action Plan and thus the failure to achieve the distribution goal of 75 percent of patients getting scientifically accurate information leaves only one option under Public Law 104-180: the Secretary [Department of Health and Human Services] shall seek public comment on other initiatives that may be carried out to meet such goals.

SHOW primary search results for atorvastatin (LIPITOR)