Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Many Americans assume that the Food and Drug Administration adequately tests new drugs for safety before they go on the market and become available to the general population. If your doctor prescribes a new drug to help you lower your cholesterol or help you quit smoking, then that drug must be safe, right?

The answer is a surprising, and disconcerting, NO.

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Controversy surrounding the cholesterol-fighting drug Vytorin continues to escalate as federal and state prosecutors investigate Merck and Schering-Plough’s marketing of the drug. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, many government officials suspect that the companies’ marketing of Vytorin was misleading and improper.

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Cholesterol-fighting medicine may fail some people, as the controversial and embattled drug Vytorin illustrates, but now medical technology provides a solution for those who just can’t lower their cholesterol any other way: a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis machine.

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Global sales of Vytorin fell 18 percent, while sales of Zetia dropped by 12 percent in the third quarter. The loss of sales revenue from the two drugs, combined with difficult economic conditions worldwide, have led drug maker Merck to announce that it will cut its workforce by 12 percent.

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