Millions of Americans suffer from high cholesterol, which clogs the arteries and reduces life expectancy. A poor diet, lack of exercise and genetic factors can cause high cholesterol. Drugs, along with diet and exercise, as the TV commercials say, can lower it. But Vytorin, an oft-prescribed drug of TV commercial fame, may pose another risk. A study known as SEAS indicates it not only may fail in fighting cholesterol, but also could lead to cancer. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to agree.
So, is this a matter of he said, she said? Not so fast. The New England Journal of Medicine at first insisted that the study linking Vytorin to cancer was likely based on chance. But in an unusual reversal, the Journal’s editors conceded last week that it’s too early to dismiss such cancer concerns. “Physicians and patients are unfortunately left for now with uncertainty about the efficacy and safety of the drug,” the Journal reports.
Selling in the billions of dollars, Vytorin is produced and sold jointly by Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. Merck is the same pharmaceutical giant which produced the discredited drug Vioxx.
