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January 18, 2008
Drug manufacturers Merck and Schering-Plough revealed on January 14 that users of the prescription cholesterol medicine Vytorin (a combination of Zetia and a statin drug, Zocor) have not been getting the protection against heart disease they were led to believe. Although the pills lower cholesterol, there is no evidence that they reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes more than statins, which is the ultimate goal of the medication.
The results of a trial completed in...
January 18, 2008
Drug manufacturers Merck and Schering-Plough revealed on January 14 that users of the prescription cholesterol medicine Vytorin (a combination of Zetia and a statin drug, Zocor) have not been getting the protection against heart disease they were led to believe. Although the pills lower cholesterol, there is no evidence that they reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes more than statins, which is the ultimate goal of the medication.
The results of a trial completed in April 2006 but, disturbingly, not released until January 14 showed that Vytorin was of no greater benefit than a statin alone in preventing the buildup of plaque in blood vessels. This kind of deception is unacceptable: because of the manufacturers' delay in reporting the results of the trial, Americans took combination drugs that are not likely to prevent heart attacks or strokes more than the four single-ingredient statins already proven to do so (see list below) and had extra side effects while drug company executives and stockholders profited from billions of dollars of extra sales.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, editor of WorstPills.org, appeared on The Early Show on CBS January 17 and on the ABC evening news that night to discuss Vytorin (Dr. Wolfe appears about 1.5 minutes into the video).
People who have been taking Zetia or Vytorin to lower their cholesterol should talk with their doctors and find an alternate treatment. A lifestyle consisting of a healthy diet, adequate rest, exercise and no smoking is the best prevention of cardiovascular disease. If lifestyle changes are not enough, some patients, especially those who have already had a heart attack or stroke, should consider drugs such as lovastatin (Mevacor), atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), pravastatin (Pravachol) or extended release niacin (Niaspan). All of these drugs have been shown to prevent heart attacks.
More info:
- Dr. Wolfe’s statement: Drug companies, FDA lagged in warning public about Zetia, Vytorin
- 2004 WorstPills.org article: Do Not Use Zetia or Vytorin until October 2009
- Summaries of all of our work on high cholesterol
