OT: Top-selling Cholesterol Drug Does Little For Women

[Guest guest]

Top-selling Cholesterol Drug Does Little For Women, Study Suggests

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080917145147.htm

 

ScienceDaily (Sep. 18, 2008) — Lipitor has been the top-selling drug

in the world and has accounted for over $12 billion in annual sales.

It has been prescribed to both men and women to lower cholesterol and

reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with common

risk factors for heart disease.

 

However, a new study appearing in the Journal of Empirical Legal

Studies was unable to find high quality clinical evidence documenting

reduced heart attack risk for women in a primary prevention context.

Furthermore, advertising omits label information relevant to women.

 

Theodore Eisenberg of Cornell Law School and Martin T. Wells of

Cornell University assembled studies for a meta analysis of drugs'

effects on cardiovascular risk, taking into account all relevant

studies reporting risks for both men and women.

 

Not one of the studies that included women with a mixture of risk

factors for heart attacks provided statistically significant support

for prescribing Lipitor or other statins to protect against

cardiovascular problems. Pfizer's claims of clinical proof that

Lipitor reduces risk of heart attack in patients with multiple risk

factors for heart disease does not appear to be scientifically

supported for large segments of the female population.

 

In addition, Lipitor's advertising repeatedly fails to report that

clinical trials were statistically significant for men but not for

women. Unqualified advertising claims of protection against heart

attacks may therefore be misleading. Pfizer's advertising also does

not disclose critical portions of the Lipitor FDA-approved label,

which acknowledges the absence of evidence with respect to women.

 

" Our findings indicate that each year, reasonably healthy women spend

billions of dollars on drugs in the hope of preventing heart attacks

but that scientific evidence supporting their hope does not exist, "

the authors conclude.

 

Journal reference:

 

1. Theodore Eisenberg and Martin T. Wells. Statins and Adverse

Cardiovascular Events in Moderate-Risk Females: A Statistical and

Legal Analysis with Implications for FDA Preemption Claims. Journal

of Empirical Legal Studies, 2008; 5 (3): 507 DOI: 10.1111/j.1740-

1461.2008.00132.x

 

Adapted from materials provided by Wiley-Blackwell.

 

Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of

the following formats:

Wiley-Blackwell (2008, September 18). Top-selling Cholesterol Drug

Does Little For Women, Study Suggests. ScienceDaily. Retrieved

September 25, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­

/releases/2008/09/080917145147.htm

[Guest guest]

Well, beating dead horse with pathetic stick... This applies to many

medications not made specifically for women, they either don't work as

well, have more side effect's or can make a situation worse. The same goes

for medications for teenagers and even more appalling, for children. Here's

a link to a story about cancer medications for children. It's short (because

there is not a whole lot of information out there on this subject), not the

best writing style either but the information is accurate.

 

http://www.helium.com/items/664886-cancer-children-recieve-wrong-doseage

 

K

 

 

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Kathleen Petrides

Bead Hussy

http://www.BeadHussy.com