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

Vytorin has struck out again, this time in a clinical trial that compared the drug’s safety and efficacy to a prescription form of the B vitamin niacin. The results of the trial, which the New England Journal of Medicine featured in an article and two editorials, were presented Sunday at an American Heart Association meeting and showed that in a direct comparison, niacin worked significantly better than Vytorin and Zetia in reducing arterial blockages. According to a report in NPR, “This study is the third to question whether ezetimibe drugs do what they’re supposed to.”

If lowering LDL or “bad” cholesterol is the doctor’s sole intention when prescribing Vytorin to patients, then the drug does a great job. However, as previous studies have shown, lower levels of LDL cholesterol don’t automatically translate to cleaner arteries and lower incidences of cardiac arrest. While Vytorin worked better than statins combined with time-release Niacin to lower LDL cholesterol in 200 patients, its performance was inferior in reducing artery clogging deposits.

In fact, five of Vytorin group patients suffered five fatal heart attacks – a rate significantly and statistically higher than the niacin group, in which just one fatal heart attack occurred. The key to understanding the difference may lie in “good” HDL cholesterol, which pulls LDL buildup from artery walls. While niacin is known to raise HDL levels, Vytorin actually lowers levels of good cholesterol.

Higher rates of cardiac arrest, lower levels of good cholesterol – these are beside the point, Merck seems to say in defending Vytorin, which earns the pharmaceutical giant $4 billion annually. The company says that lowering LDL cholesterol is the “well established” and “primary target” of therapy.

“Zetia and Vytorin, when used as a supplement to a healthy diet, are effective in reducing LDL cholesterol,” said Peter S. Kim, President of Merck Research Laboratories, in a statement.

However, if Vytorin doesn’t reduce the risk of adverse cardiac events or strokes, then what good is it possibly doing?

Approximately 9 million Americans are currently taking Vytorin and Zetia.

Source: NPR

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