A throwback from 2008

I was looking back at my old laptop, synching folders onto my new one, when I saw this.  A quick read, and a quick online check assured me that this drug is still on the market, and that it is still accumulating lawsuits.  Actually, that is true of all three of these drugs.   Take a look, I am not against all drugs, but I am against statin drugs, 99.9% of the time.  Your cholesterol needs should be managed in other ways.

When Even the Drug Makers agree…. “Drugs Don’t Work”

 Vytorin – I am sure you have seen the commercials, “There are two sources of cholesterol, food and family; Vytorin treats both” are NONE perhaps!  Vytorin is a combination drug, considered more dangerous by some simply because it combines two medications.  But the fact that when compared to other drugs that claim to have similar effect, Vytorin showed an increase in thickening of carotid arteries, as well as a higher number of deaths, heart attacks, and necessitated heart surgeries; this is why we KNOW this drug is dangerous.

Vytorin combines Zetia with Zocor (a statin).  Zetia is a new drug that is designed to block fat absorption in the abdominal tract, not too unlike the Olestra that was used to create the WOW potato chips that were marketed as no fat because the olestra blocks the absorption of all fat (and causes horrific stomach cramps and diarrhea as well).

So what’s the news, well the news is that the ENHANCE study (which provided the results above) took way too long to make its results public, and it actually took a congressional hearing to bring these results to the surface, and now they have surfaced.  Confirming that there is no benefit to taking Zetia, I can’t say that I am shocked, I am only shocked that this study made its way out to the public at all (it wouldn’t have had this drug not been so scrutinized by congress).

 Dr. Steven Nissen, Cleveland Clinic cardiologist: “The main problem is that after six years on the market, there are no data for Zetia demonstrating any health outcome benefit… In the absence of any demonstrable effect beyond LDL lowering, nearly 1 million prescriptions per week are written for Zetia. Is this rational?”

 Let me connect a fairly obvious connection… the ENHANCE study showed how poor Zetia is at reducing cholesterol, and it took am act of congress to make the results public.  In the meantime, Zetia was being prescribed at the rate of 1 million prescriptions per week.  Wouldn’t you want to hide your results too?

 I hope that with all of this, one great thing happens.  You realize the amount of active testing that is occurring on the US population.  At 5% of the population, we consume 60% of the world’s manufactured drugs, making us the largest population of guinea pigs that you will find anywhere!  Researching this article was easy, but don’t look at the health sections of the paper, you’ll find more information in the business section.  Isn’t it great that we look at our pharmaceuticals as investments, before we hold them accountable as part of the healthcare system.

 Body By God is coming, get off your meds, make a new start, and stay away from the useless drugs (that would include just about all of them).  Oh yeah, P.S. Hagens, Berman, Sobol and Shapiro filed suit against Merck, because they believe that Merck had this information in 2006, and kept it quiet.