Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Consumer Watch Group Calls For Ban of Zocor

Zocor (simvastatin) is a synthetic statin developed by Merck that is designed to lower cholesterol. Zocor is part of a class of drugs called statins that are used to treat high LDL (bad) cholesterol. Simvastatin is also sold in generic versions, and is an active ingredient in the combination drugs Vytorin and Simcor. Zocor muscle injury has long been recognized as a possible statin side effect, and the labels of these medications all bear warnings regarding this risk. In 2010, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated the labels of high-dose simvastatin to warn of an association with muscle injuries.
The FDA now says that doctors should no longer prescribe 80 milligrams of Zocor unless a patient has already been taking the dose for a year without any apparent trouble. But not everyone agrees that the warning goes far enough. Public Citizen has placed the Zocor 80 mg doses on its “Do Not Use” list, following an FDA warning about the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening muscle damage from Zocor that

Monday, August 22, 2011

Zocor Side Effects Come To Light As Effectiveness Is Questioned

Zocor is a drug given to patients to reduce cholesterol levels.  Its generic version is called simvastatin and there’s also a drug called Vytorin that contains Zocor.  Patients who took 80mg levels of Zocor and developed rhabdomyolysis are now beginning to engage in lawsuits with Zocor’s parent company, Merck & Co. Public Citizen, a prominent consumer group, has placed the Zocor 80 mg doses on its “Do Not Use” list, following an FDA warning about the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening muscle damage from Zocor that was issued earlier this week. However, instead of issuing a Zocor recall for the 80 mg dose, the FDA allowed doctors to continue prescribe the medication to patients at the highest dose as long as they had taken it for at least a year without ill effects.

Zocor (simvastatin) is a synthetic statin developed by Merck & Co., which is also widely available

Zocor Side-Effects Have Been Linked To Max Dosage

The FDA has revised the drug labels for Zocor, generic simvastatin pills, to include the new 80 mg dosing restrictions. According to the FDA, there is a higher risk of developing rhabdomyolysis (sometimes just called "rhabdo") with the 80 mg dose of Zocor or simvastatin in two instances: during the first year using pill with 80 mg, and when a Zocor 80 mg or generic simvastatin pill which contains 80 mg dose of simvastatin is used in combination with patients taking calcium channel blockers, particularly Cardizem or generic Diltiazem. The FDA also indicated that the 80mg Zocor dose has the highest rate of many different types of muscle injury of any statin and recommended that it only be used by patients who had already taken 80 mg of simvastatin for at least a year without problems.
Zocor is a synthetic statin developed by Merck & Co., which is also widely available as generic simvastatin. Before patent protections expired in 2005, it was Merck’s best-selling drug and the second best-selling cholesterol lowering drug in the world, bringing in $4.3 billion in 2005. Currently, potential product liability lawsuits are being reviewed by lawyers for individuals throughout the United States who have been diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, myopathy or severe Zocor related muscle problems. The side-effects are usually reported in patients over 65 years of age or those who have renal impairment or uncontrolled hypothyroidism.
Of the 253 million prescriptions written for cholesterol-lowering drugs in 2010, some 11 million were prescribed at the 80mg dosage. Given the recent FDA warning, Merck may soon be defending numerous Zocor lawsuits.  Additionally, the FDA has also required Merck to change the drug’s labeling in order to reduce the risk of prescription errors, and clearly differentiate the drug’s differing dosage amounts.  As a result of Merck’s failure to warn consumers about the risk of muscle injuries and potential for kidney failure, the likelihood that those individuals will begin filing Zocor lawsuits increases.  Should Merck be found liable in these Zocor lawsuits, the company will have to pay compensation to injured victims.