Comments on: Vytorin (Ezetimibe/simvastatin) Doesn’t Work; You Wouldn’t Know.

By: kaushik

kaushik — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 08:48:13 +0000

a good drug would reduce intima media that is already more than normal thick. if u carefully read the study, the study population had normal thick i.m. it is more like saying, that a fever pill did not reduce temperature, and hiding the fact that it was given to a person who was not having any fever…

By: Drugs and Devices - Dear Science

Drugs and Devices - Dear Science — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:46:09 +0000

[...] At the shallowest depths are the most obvious additions to costs, the vast sums of money spent on marketing to consumers and doctors alike. Next down are the costly FDA trials, phase I, II and III that must be completed [...]

By: Thomas Robey

Thomas Robey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 03:40:33 +0000

What about the next statement following the negative finding?

The results of our study showed that the addition of ezetimibe to the highest recommended dose of simvastatin did not reduce the intima–media thickness of the carotid-artery wall in this cohort of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, despite significant incremental reductions in levels of both LDL cholesterol and C-reactive protein.

Have the OTHER drugs shown this effect? To my knowledge, carotid artery thickness is not the standard endpoint for hyperlipidemia drugs.

I think your point that Vytorin is no better, and maybe not as good as the older generic drugs IS spot-on. But it is also good to remember that those older drugs have the benefit of long-term studies like Eiko suggests. Vytorin smells like a marketing gimmick, but I would be more comfortable with a softer critique, since there is plenty we do not know yet about ezetimibe.

By: Eiko

Eiko — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 01:22:22 +0000

Hi Science!

I agree that drug advertising is incredibly annoying.

As far as this article goes, though, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the drugs “don’t work”. What kind of an endpoint is mean intima-media thickness of the carotid artery? Why do I care about that clinically? I don’t. Show me some numbers with real endpoints: stroke, TIA, MI.