Vytorin: No Proof It Works, No Proof It Causes Cancer

In 2002, when the US Food and Drug Administraiton (FDA) approved the generic drug, ezetimibe, for its ability to lower cholesterol, the agency did so on the basis of just a few very small clinical trials of very short duration, all of them conducted by the very people who would market the drug. Since then, controversy has surrounded Vytorin and Zetia, two brand-name drugs containing ezetimibe. It seems that there is no conclusive proof that it works and no conclusive proof that it causes cancer. Or not. Read more

Vytorin Continues to Break Hearts at Merck, Schering

The bad news just seems to keep coming.  The results of the latest test of the prescription drug, Vytorin, show the drug produced no significant indication that it is effective in the treatment of aortic valve disease and heart disease.  The test also showed that Vytorin actually increased the number of heart events deemed “serious” when cancer patients take the drug. Read more

Vytorin, Zetia Maybe Not Such a Good Idea

Cardiologists at a conference in Chicago last week came away voicing concerns over the benefits and safety of Vytorin and Zetia, two of the most widely prescribed medications developed to control cholesterol. The companies who make them, Merck and Schering-Plough, earned about $5 billion in sales last year. Four million Americans are thought to take them. Read more

Prognosis Grim for Zetia and Vytorin

MedHeadlines - Clogged arteries. Plaque build-up. Cholesterol. Heart attack. Stroke. Zetia. Vytorin. Crestor. Zocor. Lipitor.  So many scary sounding words. And they all mean important decisions need to be made. What’s a person to do?  The first thing to do, of course, is to see a doctor. Chances are, he or she will prescribe one of the very popular, and very well advertised, drugs listed above to treat the symptoms and medical conditions also mentioned above. But are they the best drugs for the situation?

On Monday, two major drug companies announced the disappointing results of a joint study they’ve recently concluded on the drug Vytorin, which both companies, Merck and Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, market extensively. Vytorin is a combination of two other popular cholesterol-lowering drugs, Zocor and Zetia.

The disappointment comes from study results that indicate no significant benefit to plaque-laden arteries when taking the prescription medication as a means of lowering cholesterol levels in the bloodstream. In addition to controlling cholesterol, the drug was also expected to stop, or at least slow, the build-up of plaque along artery walls and to reduce the thickness of the plaque already there in study subjects who took the drug throughout the two-year study.

Vytorin, and Zetia as a result of its association to Vytorin, produced no significant improvement on plaque build-up although they are both effective in reducing cholesterol levels. In some patients receiving Vytorin during the study, arterial plaque actually increased. The other popular cholesterol-lowering drugs - Crestor, Lipitor, and Zocor - not only reduce cholesterol levels effectively but they also generate significant reduction in arterial plaque deposits.

Based on prescriptions written in 2006, Zetia was prescribed 14 million times and Vytorin 18 million times, making them two of the most commonly used cholesterol-lowering drugs on today’s market.

Upon learning of the announcement, some doctors suggested the drugs should no longer be considered a first line of defense against elevated cholesterol levels and should be prescribed instead only when other, more effective, drugs have failed. They further claim that by taking these medications, patients risk higher levels of heart disease and side effects while being denied access to safer, more effective, medications instead.

Stock prices dropped markedly for both drug companies after the study results were announced. Schering earns about 70% of its income from the sale of Vytorin and Zetia. Merck has been trying to improve its tarnished reputation after its painkiller, Vioxx, was removed from the market a few years ago due to dangerous side effects.