| A Closer Look at Lipitor |

By: Shane Ellison, M.Sc.
Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved

Cholesterol-Lowering drugs in the USA, known as statins, were the most widely sold pharmaceutical drugs in 2002. Accounting for 6.5% of the total market share, statins raked in 12.5 billion dollars! These drugs are dealt to the public by the masses with the rhetoric of preventing early death from cardiovascular disease (CVD). Yet, the absolute number of deaths from cardiovascular disease - 750,000 deaths per year - has not changed for the last 25 years.

Still though, drug companies make every effort to convince the public that cholesterol-lowering drugs such as Lipitor are not only effective at preventing CVD but also safe. They even go as far as lying. Lipitor serves as a perfect example.

Pfizer publicizes that rhabdomyolysis (i.e. muscle deterioration exhibited by muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness) and myopathy (muscular dystrophies) only occur with "other drugs" in the statin class, not Lipitor (see ads in Time, Readers Digest, Good Houskeeping, Womans Day and Health). However, in 2002, the FDA sent a letter to Pfizer stating that, based on Pfizer's own clinical trials, this was simply untrue. Consequently, they were in clear violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by making these false claims. More specifically, in their letter to Pfizer, the FDA stated that Pfizer's advertisements "fail to disclose that Lipitor has the same potential risk of rhabdomyolysis and myopathy as other lipid-lowering statin drugs." Despite Pfizer's non-compliance with the law, the FDA did not press charges.

Pfizer's false advertising isn't the only action taken by the billion-dollar pharmaceutical company to procure profits from cholesterol lowering drug sales. Clinical trials showed that Lipitor is effective at doses ranging from 2.5mg to 5mg. However, in a race for more money, Pfizer demands that Lipitor be prescribed starting at 10mg. This starting dose is approximately 300% higher than the dose needed to lower total cholesterol levels! More astounding, doctors are now prescribing up to 80mgs!

If you are currently taking statins this fact elucidates why you are required to go in for regular liver testing, you are being overdosed.

Unknown to the public and most doctors, statin drugs such as Lipitor can be life threatening. In a letter to the Archives of Internal Medicine, Uffe Ravnskov MD, PhD and colleagues show that in two of the three clinical trials that included healthy people, the chance of surviving was better without treatment of statins. Moreover, researchers from the University of Denmark report that about 15% of statin users over the age of 50 will suffer from nerve damage.

Fortunately, 50% of those who take cholesterol lowering drugs still have their brain cells intact and quit voluntarily due to experiencing negative side effects.

Is the risk worth the benefit? To date, not a single cholesterol lowering drug trial has shown to increase survival rates among drug users. Repeat that. Translation: Large risk, no benefit.

This should be obvious. The absolute number of deaths from cardiovascular disease has not changed for the last 25 years.

statin drug users may want to reconsider their approach to prevention and their blind loyalty to statin drugs - USA Today reported, "Statins have killed and injured more people than the government has acknowledged".

Despite American Dogma, you don't have to be a drug addict to be healthy. Safe and effective natural medicines (nutraceuticals) that help to prevent both cardiovascular disease and the negative side effects from statins are abundant. Seek education not prescriptions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Shane holds a Master's degree in organic chemistry and has first-hand industry experience with drug research, design and synthesis. He understands that Americans want and deserve education rather than prescriptions. He is the author of the controversial and shocking book Health Myths Exposed. To learn more visit www.healthmyths.net. You can get his free eBook What You MUST know about Cholesterol Lowering Drugs at www.health-fx.net.