LIFE AFTER LIPITOR:

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LIFE AFTER LIPITOR:

Is Pfizer product a quick fix or dangerous drug?

http://statinalert.org/life_after_lipitor.html

Residents experience adverse reactions

(Article originally found in Tahoe Tribune)

By Melissa Siig, Tahoe World Staff

 

At first glance, Tahoe City resident Doug Peterson looks like he is

recovering from a stroke.

 

His speech is slurred, he has difficulty walking in a straight line, and he

can't sign his own name. By afternoon, he is so fatigued he has to sit down for

the rest of the day. When asked his age, Peterson says he is 52. His wife

Karla, standing nearby, corrects him. He is 53.

 

Doug has never had a heart attack, and until the onset of the symptoms almost

three years ago, was an active skier, biker and scuba diver. Now he is

limited to walks on the treadmill. Doug traces his problems to a drug he started

taking almost three years before his health began deteriorating - Lipitor. Two

other Tahoe City locals have also experienced negative side effects from taking

Lipitor or other statins, the name for a family of cholesterol-fighting pills.

 

 

While there is no concrete evidence linking Doug's health problems to

Lipitor, after doing years of research, meeting with doctors and talking to

other

statin sufferers all over the world online, he and Karla are convinced of the

connection. Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor, claims the drug is effective in

lowering cholesterol and has minor side-effects. But as Doug and others would

ask, is

it worth it?

 

WONDER DRUG OR DANGEROUS PILL?

 

Doug, who has hereditary high cholesterol, was first prescribed Mevacor, a

statin made by Merck, in 1998. Six months later, his doctor had him switch to

Lipitor, which comes in higher doses, and upped his dosage from 10 to 20 mg. His

cholesterol dropped from 285 to a low of 160.

 

" The doctor was very pleased, " said Doug, " but meanwhile the symptoms

started. "

 

In the fall of 2000, Doug began having restless sleep patterns. His twitching

and flying arms got so bad that Karla had to sleep in another room. One time,

Doug even fell out of bed. The couple didn't think anything was seriously

wrong until a few months later when Doug started slurring his words. This was

followed by a loss of balance and the beginning of what Doug calls the " statin

shuffle " - a slow, wobbly walk across a room. Next to slide was Doug's fine

motor skills. It took him five minutes to write four words, much of which was

illegible. Finally, he tired easily and his cognitive memory processing

diminished. He had trouble following books with complex plots.

 

Confounded by Doug's illness, over the next two years the Petersons traveled

all over California meeting with neurologists, internists and acupuncturists.

Doug had MRIs, brain scans and neurofeedback tests done. Last February, Doug's

doctor suggested he go off Lipitor to see if the drug was causing his health

problems. After three weeks, the symptoms persisted, so the doctor put Doug

back on the pill. Since Doug wasn't exhibiting the most common side effect,

muscle cramps, and his liver function tests came back normal, the physician was

doublly sure that Lipitor was not to blame.

 

Finally, last spring, a doctor in Pasadena suggested Lipitor could be the

culprit. Doug went off the drug in May, and since then his symptoms have stopped

their downward spiral and his health has slowly started to improve. According

to Karla, his mind is sharper, his balance is better and his speech is more

clear in the mornings, before he gets tired. But he still has a long way to go.

 

" Before, I was a good father and family person, " said Doug, who has two

children with Karla. " At this point, I can't do that much. "

 

A former Navy diver and owner of Sierra Tahoe Computers, a repair and service

business, Doug has had to cut down his work schedule because of his fatigue

and loss of hand coordination. He is considering going on disability, but Karla

remains optimistic.

 

" We are hoping he is going to get better. That's our number one goal, " she

said. " Anger is a waste of energy at this point. We are trying to recover and

get the word out. "

 

DID PFIZER DO ENOUGH STUDIES?

 

Since Parke-Davis (later acquired by Pfizer) developed Lipitor in 1997, it

has become the number one prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug in the United

States, with more than 18 million Americans having been prescribed the drug. New

York City-based Pfizer, the world's largest pharmaceutical company, derives a

quarter of its $32 billion in annual sales from Lipitor, according to an

article in SmartMoney. With sales expected to top $10 billion this year, Lipitor

is

poised to become the largest-selling pharmaceutical in history, surpassing

Pfizer's other wonder drug, Viagra.

 

Lipitor is proven to lower total cholesterol by 29 to 45 percent. As with any

prescription, it comes with a list of possible side effects, such as muscle

pain or weakness and liver dysfunction. Pfizer's Web site states, " The most

commonly reported side effects are gas, constipation, stomach pain and

indigestion. They are usually mild and tend to go away. " In a nine-month study

of 2,502

patients, Pfizer found that more serious side effects, such as facial

paralysis, colon inflammation and gallbladder pain, occurred in less than 2

percent of

those treated.

 

Pfizer was unable to commment on reported adverse side effects in time for

the Tahoe World's deadline.

 

The problem, say the Petersons, is that Pfizer has not conducted any

long-term studies. Doug's health issues didn't start for two and a half years

after he

started taking Lipitor. Similarly, Tahoe City psychologist John Altrocchi,

75, was on Mevacor for around three years when he started to develop calf pain

that became so severe he could hardly walk. He also experienced a case of

temporary memory loss called transient global amnesia (TGA), which has been

linked

with statins. A day after watching the 1998 Super Bowl game, Altrocchi had no

memory of the event.

 

" There's no way you could prove that Mevacor was responsible for the TGA, but

it's very possible, " said Altrocchi, who stopped taking the drug about three

years ago and convinced his brother, a retired neurologist, to go off Lipitor.

" Especially for older men, I think it's wise to get off statins right away.

There is very little evidence they do much good. "

 

While most symptoms seem to start after a few years, Ed Ontiveros of Homewood

began having physical problems within 30 days of taking Lipitor. After

experiencing muscle aches and weakness for a few days, the 75-year old fell in

the

bathroom and didn't have the strength to get up. Since going off the drug, he's

had no problems.

 

" It [reduced cholesterol] is not worth it with the side effects, " said

Ontiveros. " You may not live as long, but you sure don't want to die earlier. "

 

Doctors are quick to prescribe Lipitor, says Karla, because they perceive it

as a magic bullet in the battle against cardiovascular disease, the leading

cause of death for Americans, and it's easier than prescribing a long-term

regime of healthy diet and exercise. But the evidence that high cholesterol

leads

to heart disease is not conclusive, said Altrocchi, and there is even

speculation that cholesterol provides protection for the brain and spine.

 

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY

 

The Petersons say Pfizer is too powerful to take on alone, but would consider

joining a class-action lawsuit against the company. However, lawyers have

told them a lawsuit is only possible if Lipitor gets recalled by the Food and

Drug Administration. (Another statin, Baycol, was recalled by Bayor in 2001

after

31 people died of kidney failure while on the drug.) The Petersons filled out

a complaint on the FDA Web page and encourage other Lipitor sufferers to do

the same.

 

Frustrated by doctors who doubt the connection between Lipitor and health

problems, the Petersons are awaiting the results of a study being conducted by

Dr. Beatrice Golomb, a neurologist at the University of California-San Diego, on

the effects of statin drugs. As reported by the Wall Street Journal this

week, Golomb found that 15 percent of statin patients developed some cognitive

side effects. In the meantime, the couple is focusing on Doug's recovery and

staying positive.

 

" At this point, I consider myself lucky I'm not in a wheelchair, " said Doug,

who is currently in phsyical therapy. " There are no guarantees in life. Your

birth certificate doesn't come with a warranty. "

 

For more information, contact Doug Peterson at dwp22 or visit

Drug Information Technologies at www.ditonline.com .

 

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