Statins for the masses
Pfizer is getting ready to take a multibillion-dollar loss this fall when it loses patent protection on the best-selling drug of all time. But don't expect them to sit back and watch Lipitor's $11 billion a year in sales go down the drain. The Wall Street Journal says the company is hatching a plan to have its cholesterol-lowering drug sold over the counter.
And if they get their way, you can bet it won't just be sold in pharmacies anymore. I'm thinking 7-11, McDonald's, and Dunkin Donuts, for starters, where Lipitor can be billed as the antidote to cholesterol-laden convenience foods.
That's not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds. Some researchers have already proposed doing exactly that. (Read about it here.)
But if there's anything as bad for you as a fast food meal on your plate, it's a statin in your body. I don't care what you've been told. These drugs are bad news.
Along with the notorious risk of muscle weakness and debilitating pain, statins have also been linked to kidney failure, liver damage, cataracts, joint and tendon problems, sexual issues, and even an increased risk of diabetes.
That's right... a drug that's supposed to keep a supposed risk factor for diabetes in check -- cholesterol -- may actually help bring the disease on.
Here's a better plan: Skip the fast food and skip the statins. Basic lifestyle changes can do a much better job of keeping cholesterol levels under control anyway.
The one bit of good news here is that Big Pharma is 0-for-2 when it comes to getting statins approved for over-the-counter sales. Merck's plan for OTC Mevacor was rejected by the feds at least three times, along with Bristol-Myers Squibb's bid for nonprescription Pravachol.
Normally, I spend a lot of time ripping FDA decisions -- and, let's face it, there's a lot to rip. But in this case, the agency has managed to get it right -- and they've already put Pfizer on notice that the bar for over-the-counter Lipitor has been set pretty high.
"They would have to provide data to show that consumers understand the treatment and recognize that cholesterol-monitoring is required," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess told Bloomberg News.
That's not going to be easy, because Burgess quickly added that previous studies have shown that patients don't get it.
"Most study participants made mistakes and chose to take the proposed over-the-counter statin when they should not have done that," she was quoted as saying.
On the other hand, statins such as Zocor are already available over the counter in the U.K. -- so maybe it's only a matter of time before the FDA follows suit.
Related articles of interest:
Free Pharmaceuticals With Purchase
Do You Want McStatins With That?
Pharmageddon: America’s Top Selling Drugs Cause Diabetes
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Edward Martin writes House Calls, a daily letter chronicling the most cutting-edge alternative methods for beating diabetes and cancer, to the latest FDA foul-ups and Big Pharma conspiracies.
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Comments
Lori
This really infuriates me. The cholesterol issue is one of the biggest scams in American medicine and we've bought it hook, line, and sinker. Doctors literally scare their patients into taking statins, and even those who have no health issues are told to take them for prevention. A cardiologist at a seminar I attended awhile back even suggested that statins for unborn fetuses should be considered to control cholesterol levels later on. Nothing short of criminal in my opinion.
GLR
Shocking. Worse, even Vitamin D is made from cholesterol.
fine comments by Lori, too.
R Vasudevan
I am on statins for decade or more now and I experience all the adverse side effects including kidney problem and muscle aches and pains. Seeing these developments I am put on LESCOL, a very expensive drug from Novartis as being comparatively less harmful for kidney. Though I have survived so long, the quality of life and the pleasure of living are out. One ends up riding a tiger when he/she is put on statins for whatever reason. The reason is there is no proven and safe alternative to keep the unwanted excessive cholesterol sailing through in your blood vessels. CO q 10 is also very expensive while it's efficacy cannot be categorically confirmed.
Anonymous
Our body has a tremendous ability to regenerate. Taking the drugs, no matter OTC or with prescription, we supress all this fine machinery. The result is we become dependent on all this chemistry while Big Pharma and an army of allopatic M.D.-s all laugh on the way to the bank.
Why do we need that beats me.
Ricardo36
Someone should bone up on his medical facts and not depend on pharmaceutical propaganda (LIES)
Anonymous
It may not be long before they succumb to their desires, the FDA as many others have a weakness for money their records do not speak well and as far as protecting the population is not something to brag about, but when it comes to natural supplements, they put their swat gear in a matter of seconds. JAM
SoaringCanary
Thank you, excellent cautionary article and great comments. Recently I found clinical research that confirms how when Red Yeast Rice [2400 mg] was compared to Simvastatin [Zocor-80 mg], the RYR reduced cholesterol by 30% or within the same range as Zocor...with no side effects. RYR is not only Mother Nature's natural statin but so is it a traditional Asian food that has been safely used for centuries. That being said, it is as the credible advocate in Duane Graveline, MD [Retired Family Practice, NASA] has long cautioned...after his own debilitating experience with high dose Lipitor, not once, but twice...while still not convincing his own doctor that the statin had incited his case of Transient Global Amnesia [TGA]... one must use CoQ10 at the 'same' time to avoid adverse effects because the cholesterol and CoQ10 are produced in the 'same' biochemical pathway. So, how many prescribing doctors know to mention this AND recommend that CoQ10 be taken along with a statin? Cholesterol is NOT the bad guy it has been made out to be since this is the raw material for a myriad of life-preserving actions such as production of the steroid hormones and repair of the endothelial layer of cells throughout the vascular system. Thus, since CoQ10 is the major antioxidant that protects the heart, there would be adverse reactions when both agents are 'less' available to the body. I have seen PubMed evidence that when a five year study was done in France with women >age 70, those with higher levels of cholesterol were those who were aging far more optimally [less dementia, physical ailments, etc.] than those with the lower cholesterol. Statistically, those who have heart attacks are more often found to have 'normal or lower' levels of cholesterol...so how can this finding be the cause. It isn't, but chronic and unchecked "inflammation" is and this is why the statins are now also pushed for this later found as a secondary benefit for some people. However, in my intuitive opinion, NO young, still developing, child on the planet should be using a statin, nor should the elderly [>70] or anyone else who doesn't have genetically-induced hypercholesterolemia [sp] which can be concerning for the cardiovascular system during the Middle Age years when there is usually also higher BP. A last dismal thought is that when cholesterol is pushed so low, the inherent imbalance will allow for the evolution of Cancer which I saw with a dear 64 yr old friend who felt so relieved [for her doctor's approval] after lowering her LDL to <150 [Lipitor] and even though I cautioned her to immediately increase CoQ10, it was not long before she was stricken for a second time with the formerly held-in-check Ovarian Cancer [from 15 years prior.] In other words, by lowering all cholesterol levels so low when she was older [and even while using CoQ10] her body was denied the full benefit of this protective agent and within months she was gone. Since I know how my friend was eating smart, making good lifestyle choices, getting restorative sleep, and using targeted supplements, this tragic outcome was not-a-coincidence when the truth is: Over time, the overpowering statins can be an entirely dangerous impediment to one's best reality of robust health AND longevity.
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