The Statin Drug Deception

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The Statin Drug Deception

BY: PAM POPPER, ND

Statin drugs are virtually useless for most patients who take them. So, how did

they get approved in the first place and how have doctors been led to believe

that they work?

Drugs get approved because the FDA requires very little evidence of efficacy in

order to approve a drug, and allows drug companies to continue marketing drugs

in spite of evidence from follow-up studies (when they are conducted, which is

seldom) showing that they should be removed from the market. An example is the

ENHANCE trial, which evaluated the use of Vytorin. The study showed that for

patients taking Vytorin, a combination of Zocor and Zetia, the rate at which

artery clogging plaques developed almost doubled as compared to hose taking

Zocor alone. It took 20 months for the makers of these drugs to make public the

results of this trial, during which Vytorin and Zetia sales grew to over $5

billion.

Business Week featured an article on January 17, 2008 titled " Lipitor: For Many

People Cholesterol Drugs May Not Do Any Good. " Dr. , Director of

Canada's Therapeutic Initiative, said in this article:

" …No benefit in people over the age of 65, no matter how much their

cholesterol declines, and no benefit for women of any age…no overall reduction

in total deaths or illnesses requiring hospitalization – despite big reduction

in " bad " cholesterol. Most people are taking something with no chance of

benefit and a risk of harm "

The article also said, " Data suggest that for patients without heart disease,

only one in 100 is likely to benefit from taking statins for years. " In other

words, the drugs have a 99% failure rate. Yet billions of dollars worth of them

are sold annually.

I have written many times about the statistical sleight of hand used by drug

companies and oncologists to promote cancer drugs. The same thing is true of

statin drugs. Lipitor is advertised as reducing the risk of heart attack by

36%. However, look a little closer and you'll see that even in newspaper ads

for the drug, the small print says that 3% of patients taking sugar pills had

heart attacks as compared to 2% of those taking Lipitor. In other words, the

absolute benefit is about 1%, not 36%. The aggressive promotion of this drug is

even more egregious when considering that 10-15% of those who take it experience

significant side effects. All for a 1% advantage in terms of heart attack risk,

and no reduction in the risk of mortality.

The same holds true with other drugs directed at regulating cholesterol levels.

Torcetrapid, made by Pfizer, lowered LDL levels by 46%, and when used with

Lipitor, raised HDL by 106%. But it increased the rate of deaths and adverse

cardiovascular events.

Several things lead to the continuation of this travesty:

• The FDA approval process - The FDA allows drugs to be approved for use when

they are shown to be 1% more effective than placebo

• Most doctors do not know how to analyze statistical results of studies to

ferret out the actual benefits of drugs for patients.

• Most doctors allow pharmaceutical reps to provide them with information

about drug use and efficacy

• Most patients do not know how to ask the right questions before agreeing to

a drug regimen.

• Most doctors and other medical professionals, as well as most patients, do

not know that dietary excellence is an effective option.