The blockbuster anti-cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia should be used only after all other cholesterol-lowering drugs fail until research proves that the medications work according to a panel of heart specialists convened by the American College of Cardiology. The panel based its assessment on detailed evidence from a controversial study, released Sunday, showing that Vytorin worked no better than a statin drug now sold as a cheap generic.“There is absolutely no difference … between the two treatment groups,” said lead investigator John Kastelein of the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam at the group’s annual scientific session.
The panel’s spokesman, Harlan Krumholz of Yale University, said: “Our strongest recommendation is that people need to go back to statins. … If you were put on this drug before you were fully treated on a statin, you should go back.”
The study’s results also were released online in the New England Journal of Medicine. The journal’s editor, Jeffrey Drazen, and three colleagues offered similar guidance in an editorial.
The New England Journal of Medicine editorial:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMe0801842
For AP news coverage at CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/03/30/cholesterol.drug.ap/index.html
It should be emphasized, do not stop taking Vytorin or Zetia without consulting your doctor. If you are taking one of these drugs, you may need to be changed to another drug. Your doctor, reviewing your medical history, is the one who can make an informed decision on your anti cholesterol medications.
