This is the question according to the NY Times that is on minds of many cardiologists as they await a delayed study on Zetia and Vytorin–two cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Cardiologists Question Delay of Data on 2 Drugs
By ALEX BERENSON
nytimes.com
Prescriptions for the cholesterol-lowering drugs Zetia and Vytorin are written for almost 800,000 Americans every week, at a cost this year of about $4 billion. Yet it still is not clear how well the drugs work.
Nearly two years after the medicines’ makers, Merck and Schering-Plough, completed a clinical trial of the drugs, they still have not released the findings. The delay has led to a growing chorus of complaints from cardiologists. And yesterday, the companies responded by promising to publish a portion of the results next March — but not the entire set of data.
Doctors say that decision is highly unusual and will do little to quell concerns about the trial, as well as broader questions about the effectiveness of the drugs.
Cardiologists have been awaiting the results of the trial, called Enhance, to learn how well Zetia and Vytorin work. If they are not as effective as other cholesterol medicines, patients taking them may be putting themselves at unnecessary risk of heart attacks.
“There’s clearly some rightful interest in what the results are,†said Dr. Allen J. Taylor, chief of cardiology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “You’ve got millions of people treated with the drugs.†(more…)
Bottom line, please get a second or third opinion on drugs unfamiliar to you.
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