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2 Top Cholesterol Drugs, Vytorin and Zetia, Don't Work

Posted Mar 31, 08 3:55 AM CDT in Business,  Science & Health    Most Covered

(Newser) – Two top-selling cholesterol drugs  proved in a recent study to be largely ineffective in slowing the clogging of arteries, a panel of cardiologists said yesterday. Doctors should only prescribe Vytorin and Zetia if other medications don't work, and should rely instead on statins such as Lipitor and Zocor, they said. “The strongest recommendation we can make is to go back to statins,” said one of the doctors. “They work.”

More than 5 million people around the world take Vytorin and Zetia, but a recent clinical trial showed the drugs failed to slow—and may have even sped up—the growth of fatty plaques in the arteries. Drug makers Merck and Schering-Plough disputed the recommendations, saying the drugs have been proven to lower cholesterol.

Sources New York Times, Wall Street Journal

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Chairman of the board of the German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck, Karl-Ludwig Kley, speaks during the annual shareholders meeting in Frankfurt, central Germany, Friday, March 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/Bernd Kammerer)
Schering-Plough Corp provided this undated file photo of the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin, a product of a joint venture between pharmaceutical companies Merck & Co., and Schering-Plough Corp.   (AP Photo)
The Schering-Plough headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., is seen in this Sept.. 6, 2006 file photograph.   (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
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heart attack  • Merck  • cholesterol  • clinical trials  • cardiovascular disease  • cholesterol lowering drug  • Schering Plough  • Vytorin  • Zetia


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