A study (called Enhance) conducted mainly in the Netherlands on 720 people with high cholesterol showed that atherosclerotic plaques grew twice as fast when a person was on a Zetia (ezetimibe) and Zocor (simvastatin) combination (in the form of Vytorin pills) - than when on Zocor alone. The NY times article reporting the entire mess is here. Another article covering the same is here.
Some shocking facts:
A) the FDA approved Zetia in November 2002 and Vytorin (a combination drug) in August 2004.
B) the study in question ( Enhance : a two year trial) concluded in April 2006. That's right - almost 2 years ago. Both companies : Merck and Schering "repeatedly missed their own deadlines for reporting the results, leading cardiologists around the world to wonder what the study would show."
C) Both drugs in question cost around $3 a day. Worldwide, about one million prescriptions are written for Zetia and Vytorin each week, and about five million people are now taking the drugs worldwide.
Zetia
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