Zocor Side Effects Can Include Disease of the Heart

A number of people have been made aware of Zocor side effects including Zocor muscle injury and Zocor rhabdomyolysis, because of the mounting number of Zocor lawsuits dealing with these particular side effects, but plaintiffs who have experienced other side effects may also be eligible to file a lawsuit and seek damages from drug makers. Other Zocor side effects tend to get less attention than those having to do with muscle injury, but they can be just as harmful and cause a patient just as many problems. 

Zocor cardiomyopathy side effect

Some Zocor patients may experience symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, and swelling of the legs, feet, and ankles. These symptoms could be a sign of Zocor cardiomyopathy, a heart disease that causes improper heart function. It is believed that Zocor heart problems could be caused by a depletion of a certain enzyme, which Zocor may be linked to. Coenzyme Q10 is essential to proper heart function and, as Zocor may deplete it, this may lead to heart problems. 

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