Recently, drug manufacturer Merck and chemical research
company Schering-Plough announced a new medication to
combat high cholesterol. Zetia, known chemically as
Ezetimibe, is an anti-hyperlipidemic medication, which is
used to lower cholesterol levels. Zetia is marketed as an
alternative to statin therapy. It acts by decreasing
cholesterol absorption in the intestine. Zetia has also
been combined with statin therapy in a single pill marketed
as Vytorin.
However, the company failed to successfully report their
research outcome on the given dates several times. It was
not until the media picked up on the company's suspect
behavior and delay that the announcement came for the final
deadline "soon" in December of 2007. Finally, the results
of the trial were released in January of 2008. The results
were decidedly negative by most accounts, as reported by
the media including The New York Times. In a study to
specifically measure the reduction of the growth of fatty
plaques in arteries, both Zetia and Vytorin were shown to
increase the fatty plaque growth in the patients' arteries,
almost doubling the rate of growth when compared to another
leading high-cholesterol medication.
So disturbing were the results of the study, that it
reached the ears of Congressional representatives. The
chairmen of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and of
its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations have made
contact with the chairmen and CEOs of Merck and
Schering-Plough regarding the misrepresentation of the
drugs within their advertising campaign. The correspondence
calls into question the lighthearted nature of the Zetia
and Vytorin commercials and the misleading information they
insinuate. Additionally, the congressmen make inquiry to
the ads continued use in television advertising claiming
the exceeding success of the drug over traditional statin
drug therapy, while they possessed the results of the
ENHANCE trial for the two years contradicting that very
fact.
This one result leads many to believe that several cardiac
complications and events could have been enabled by taking
medication specifically prescribed to as a support for
people at high risk for such problems. Recently, Zetia
lawsuits have been filed in several states, charging that
Merck and Schering-Plough deliberately withheld the
information from the ENHANCE trial proving that Zetia
provided no reduction in the frequency of cardiovascular
events. Nor did they report information suggesting Zetia
side effects where Zetia could be the cause of serious
liver damage. Thus far, the lawsuits seek compensation for
the cost of the medication to the consumers named as
plaintiffs, however, this is only the beginning, as it is
highly likely that that many Zetia lawsuits claiming health
complications and damages will emerge.
It would be wise for anyone who has firsthand experience
with potential complications arising from taking Zetia or
Ezetimibe in any form to contact their health care provider
as soon as possible, and to seriously consider contacting a
Zetia lawyer in order to recoup any damages you or someone
who has been affected by this medication could be entitled
to through a Zetia law suit.
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complete legal database, including our free attorney
referral service on issues such as Zetia risks and Vytorin
side effects, which can be found at
http://vytorin.legalview.com/ .
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