Zetia is a drug designed to lower cholesterol levels – specifically to lower the level of LDL or “bad cholesterol.” The drug takes a different scientific approach to lowering cholesterol levels and has been widely prescribed as an addition to an existing program of treatment with one of the “statin” drugs such as Zocor or Lipitor. Zetia has been marketed jointly by Merck Laboratories and Schering-Plough and has been an important success in the market since the FDA approved it in October of 2002.
The goal of all cholesterol medication is to lower the possibility of plaque developing in critical heart arteries – blockages that can lead to cardiovascular “events” such as a stroke or a heart attack. Zetia has shown remarkable results in both lowering LDL counts in heart patients and in raising HDL (“good cholesterol”) levels at the same time. The drug has been widely prescribed and looked upon as a substantial step in the control of arteriosclerosis (arterial blockage).
However there have been questions raised recently about Zetia’s ability to influence the effect of lowered LDL levels on plaque reduction. Moreover, there have been concerns about Zetia’s possible impact on the liver. The two drug companies who have been marketing Zetia did an extensive field study on the medication after it had been on the market for a while, and while they had all the data in hand by 2006 they declined to publicly release any information.
The study showed that while Zetia works well reducing high cholesterol levels, there is no correlating evidence of a reduction in cardiovascular “incidents” as there was in the clinical studies of the “statin” drugs. Moreover, there is apparently some indication that the data shows increased liver enzyme levels as the result of combining Zetia with a statin drug.
IN December of 2007, the New York Times published an article about the completed study – named ENHANCE – and the reluctance of the two drug companies to make their data public. The FDA has seen the report and has thus far declined to issue any warnings. That has not been the case in Canada, Australia and other companies however. Both those countries issued warnings in 2005 about potential liver damage, hepatitis, pancreatitis and depression from the use of Zetia.
While there is no definitive long-term test available on the drug, some physicians are taking precautions with it, using it as a last resort if the patient for some reason cannot tolerate a statin drug. The drug companies have launched a long term, 10,000 patient study of Zetia’s effectiveness and potential dangers, but the data will not be available until 2011.
If you or a loved one have suffered drug-Induced hepatitis, liver failure, acute pancreatitis, thrombocytopenia.after taking Zetia, you may be able to file a claim against the manufacturer of Zetia.
