Doubt Cast on 2 Drugs Used to Lower Cholesterol - New York Times

Doubt Cast on 2 Drugs Used to Lower Cholesterol - New York Times: "The New York Times
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March 31, 2008
Doubt Cast on 2 Drugs Used to Lower Cholesterol
By ALEX BERENSON

CHICAGO — Two widely prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs, Vytorin and Zetia, may not work and should be used only as a last resort, a panel of four cardiologists told an audience of more than 5,000 people at a major cardiology conference on Sunday.

Instead, physicians and patients should rely more heavily on older cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins, which have proven benefits and can be cheaper, the panel said.

“The strongest recommendation we can make on this panel is to go back to statins,” said Dr. Harlan M. Krumholz, a cardiologist at Yale. “They work.”

Statins include drugs like Lipitor and simvastatin, the generic version of Zocor. But other, lesser-known drugs like niacin should also be tried before Vytorin and Zetia, the panel said.

Vytorin and Zetia are among the top-selling drugs in the world, with combined sales of $5 billion last year. About five million people worldwide, including four million Americans, take the medicines, which have been heavily advertised to consumers in the United States.

The New England Journal of Medi"