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Zetia Heart Attack
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Zetia: True Stories and Interviews
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Zetia/Vytorin: "I can't afford to take any more chances."
George Stavros fits the profile of someone who would be prescribed Merck/Schering-Plough's Zetia anti-cholesterol drug to help prevent a possible heart attack. The question is whether it did him more harm than good. [ MORE: ZETIA/VYTORIN CHANCES]
Zetia: Patient Complains About Severe Muscle Pain
Charles S. says he is annoyed by Zetia. The problem is that within days of taking the drug, he experienced extreme muscle painâ€"pain that required steroids for relief. Charles has no doubt that the cause of his muscle pain was Zetia. [ MORE: ZETIA MUSCLE PAIN]
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More About Zetia
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Merck and Shering-Plough have announced that, based on a study of 720 patients, Vytorin, which combines Zetia and Zocor, does not reduce the growth of fatty arterial plaque. Rather, patients who took Vytorin had more plaque growth than patients who took only Zocor.
The growth of fatty plaques is correlated to a risk of heart attacks and strokes.
 The study, known as the ENHANCE trial, showed that the use of Zetia and Zocor combined was no more effective than simply using a generic version of Zocor alone. The generic version of Zocor is a much less expensive treatment than the combination of Zocor and Zetia.
Now, Merck and Shering-Plough are under fire for delaying the release of the ENHANCE trial results. The study was completed in the spring of 2006, but results were only publicized in January 2008. This means that patients who have taken Zetia have been doing so without knowledge of all the possible risks associated with the drug, while the drug-makers may have known for quite a while about those risks.
A study that shows whether or not patients taking Zetia are at an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes will not be completed until 2011, almost nine years after Zetia was approved for use.
The FDA based it's approval of Zetia on clinical trials conducted on only 3,900 patients over 12 weeks, but even those trials showed that 11 times as many people who took Zetia with a statin developed serious health problems, compared with people who only took a statin.
Zetia is designed to lower a patient's cholesterol, and therefore the risk of cardiovascular events, by blocking the absorption of cholesterol from the intenstines. If using Zetia does not lower a patient's risk of heart attack, then why are patients being prescribed it?
Although strong warnings have been issued in Canada and Australia about side effects from Zetia use that include hepatitis, pancreatitis and depression, US product labels contain only mild warnings. Some physicians are now recommending that Zetia and Zocor combined should only be prescribed as a last resort.
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Read More Zetia Articles
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Ezetrol: Zetia by Any Other Name...
Canadian visitors to LawyersAndSettlements may wonder about all the recent uproar around Zetia, Merck Pharmaceuticals' costly and quite possibly ineffective anti-cholesterol drug, and its offshoot Vytorin, the combination Zetia/simvastatin (Zocor) drug produced jointly by Merck/Schering-Plough. Vytorin, of course, was the subject of the recently released ENHANCE test results. Those results indicated that while Zetia in combination with simvastatin (i.e., Vytorin) did enhance lowering of LDL (bad) cholesterol, the combination drug did no better than simvastatin alone in reducing users' artery plaque, and therefore their risk of heart attack and stroke. [ MORE: EZETROL IS ZETIA]
Zetia: How Did It Get Here?
Doctors have been prescribing Zetia, either alone or in Vytorin, for patients at risk for heart attack or stroke based on its known ability to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol. Unlike statin drugs, which block cholesterol production in the liver, Zetia inhibits LDL cholesterol absorption in the digestive tract. So it was no surprise that patients in the ENHANCE tests who took Vytorin showed a higher cholesterol reduction than those who received a statin drug alone. [ MORE: HOW DID ZETIA GET HERE?]
Zetia/Vytorin: Whose Word Can You Trust?
The long-delayed release of the ENHANCE testing results for Merck/Schering-Plough's Vytorin anti-cholesterol drug on January 14 brought on a storm of responses. The ENHANCE results indicated that Vytorin, which combines Merck/Schering's Zetia with generic simvastatin (Zocor), did lower patients' LDL (bad) cholesterol somewhat better than simvastatin alone, but did no better than simvastatin alone in reducing arterial plaque build-up, the prime cause of stroke and heart attack. [ MORE: ZETIA CLASS ACTION]
Congressional Investigation and Class Action Lawsuit Target Zetia Manufacturers
The House committee that has been investigating Merck/Schering-Plough's two-year delay in releasing the ENHANCE test results for its Vytorin combination drug now wants information on the company's marketing practices. [ MORE: ZETIA CLASS ACTION]
ENHANCE Test Results Show Zetia Does Not Reduce Artery Plaque
After a two-year delay, Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals has released the ENHANCE test results for its controversial Vytorin combination drug. Vytorin combines Merck/Schering's Zetia and the statin drug Zocor (generic simvastatin). The tests showed that Vytorin performs no better than simvastatin alone in reducing plaque buildup in the arteries. [ MORE: ZETIA PLAQUE REDUCTION]
More Controversy Surrounding Zetia
When the makers of Zetia announced that they were changing the goals of a clinical trial of the drug, after the trial had already been started, the companies faced a great deal of criticism. According to an article in Forbes, the situation was actually more controversial than that. [ MORE: ZETIA CONTROVERY]
Statins Star Rises, But Zetia?
The outlook on cholesterol-fighting statins only gets better, while cholesterol drug Zetia continues to be cloaked in a shroud of secrecy. At issue is a study on Zetia's safety and effectiveness that was completed two years ago by Merck and Schering-Plough, but was never released. The so-called Enhance study, which should give the best indication yet of Zetia's value, as well as risks and side effects, isn't due to be released until March. [ MORE: ZETIA SECRECY]
Zetia can have Serious Side Effects
Patients taking Zetia are now learning that the drug may come with some serious side effects. Those include liver damage, rhabdomyolysis and myopathy. What has surprised many consumers is that the makers of Zetia conducted a few studies and found that there are risks associated with taking Zetia, but did not publicize the results of those studies. [ MORE: ZETIA SIDE EFFECTS]
Zetia: So Many Questions, So Few Answers
In the five years since cholesterol drug Zetia has been on the market, millions of Americans have embraced Zetia to help them control their cholesterol levels. And yet, the safety of Zetia, and specifically concerns surrounding the potential for liver damage has been suspected for some time. [ MORE: ZETIA QUESTIONS, FEW ANSWERS]
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Zetia Press Releases:
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 FEB-03-08: The scandal over Merck/ Schering- Plough's long delay in releasing the results of the ENHANCE tests of its big-bucks anti-cholesterol medication Vytorin continues to growâ€"to the extent that The Wall Street Journal now calls it "Vytoringate". And like its predecessor scandal, the focus of investigations has come down to a simple question: What did Merck/Schering know about the ENHANCE results, and when did they know it? [ MORE: ZETIA WHAT DID THEY KNOW]
 FEB-02-08: Steven Nissen, M.D., director of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a press release, "This is as bad a result for the drug as anybody could have feared. Millions of patients may be taking a drug that has no benefits for them, raising their risk of heart attacks and exposing them to potential side effects". [ MORE: ZETIA RAISES HEART ATTACK RISK]
JAN-24-08: Merck / Schering- Plough announced on Tuesday January 22, that they are pulling all direct-to-consumer (DTC) television advertisements for their Zetia and Vytorin products. Zetia is Merck/Schering's branded anti-cholesterol drug which is also used in Vytorin, which contains Zetia and the statin drug Zocor (simvastation). [ MORE: ZETIA, VYTORIN TV ADS OFF AIR]
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Zetia In The News
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JAN-25-08: Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. say reports have mischaracterized the Enhance trial of Vytorin and Zetia. The manufacturers continue to stand behind their research and the drugs' effectiveness. [ BLOOMBERG: ZETIA]
JAN-16-08: The Enhance trial has found that Zetia lowers cholesterol but is no better than Zocor alone in reducing plaque growth in the carotid arteries. [ WRAL: ZETIA]
DEC-24-07: Back in 2002, an FDA reviewer warned that animal tests showed liver damage when Zetia was combined with statins. Zetia was approved after a 12-week human trial involving only 3900 patients. [ NEWSMAX: ZETIA]
DEC-21-07: New evidence shows that studies of Zetia were conducted that brought up questions about the drug's risks to the liver, but results from those studies were never published. [ TIMES: ZETIA]
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If you or a loved one has suffered heart problems due to taking Zetia, please click the link below to send your complaint to a lawyer to evaluate your claim at no cost or obligation.
Last updated on Feb-25-08
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ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS
Zetia: How Did It Get Here?
Washington, DC: The emerging scandal surrounding Merck/Schering-Plough's Zetia and Vytorin cholesterol-lowering drugs has raised questions about some related issues. To recap: on January 14, after nearly a two-year delay, Merck/Schering released the results of its ENHANCE testing program for their combination Zetia/simvastatin (Zocor) drug called Vytorin. Those results indicated that Vytorin, and by implication Zetia, apparently was no more effective than simvastatin drugs alone in reducing or inhibiting arterial plaque in users. Arterial plaque is the prime cause of stroke and heart attack. [ Read More ]
Zetia/Vytorin: Whose Word Can You Trust?
 Washington, DC: The long-delayed release of the ENHANCE testing results for Merck/Schering-Plough's Vytorin anti-cholesterol drug on January 14 brought on a storm of responses. The ENHANCE results indicated that Vytorin, which combines Merck/Schering's Zetia with generic simvastatin (Zocor), did lower patients' LDL (bad) cholesterol somewhat better than simvastatin alone, but did no better than simvastatin alone in reducing arterial plaque build-up, the prime cause of stroke and heart attack. [ Read More ]
Zetia/Vytorin: What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?
 Kenilworth, NJ: The scandal over Merck/Schering-Plough's long delay in releasing the results of the ENHANCE tests of its big-bucks anti-cholesterol medication Vytorin continues to grow—to the extent that The Wall Street Journal now calls it "Vytoringate". And like its predecessor scandal, the focus of investigations has come down to a simple question: What did Merck/Schering know about the ENHANCE results, and when did they know it? [ Read More ]
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