Lipitor No Better Than Other Cholesterol Drugs

According to a German study, Lipitor, Pfizer’s cholesterol-lowering statin drug and the best-selling drug in the world, is no more effective than similar cholesterol drugs, and in some cases may have worse side effects.

Controversy Follows New Price Guidelines

The study demonstrating this stems from a controversy in Germany regarding the pricing of Lipitor and other statin drugs.

Health insurers in Germany introduced a fixed price for Lipitor at the end of 2004. Pfizer asked its patients to pay the difference between the price of Lipitor and the sum that would be paid by health insurers, then started an advertising campaign in newspapers arguing that Lipitor is better than other statins. Most other pharmaceutical companies lowered the price of their drugs after the fixed price was introduced.

Lipitor No Better and Often Worse

The study, which involved a survey of previous studies from around the world, found that:

• Lipitor did not prolong the life of people with chronic coronary heart disease
• For acute diseases, Lipitor, Zocor, and Pravastin provided similar results
• Lipitor did not prolong life in people with diabetes mellitus
• Some studies on Lipitor had to be stopped because it had more side effects compared with Zocor

 

The San Francisco Chronicle September 4, 2005

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Dr. Mercola’s Comment:

Lipitor is one of the best drugs on the market — from the drug company’s perspective, that is. It is designed to be taken for life, and you will pay thousands of dollars a year to the drug company until you die prematurely from the side effects produced by the drug.

A “cure” for a symptom having nothing to do with addressing the cause of your underlying illness, all it does is cost you money, put you at risk of serious and sometimes life-threatening side effects, and provide an excuse not to take actual steps that will help your heart and health, such as proper diet and exercise.

Other statin drugs, though, are frankly no better. Lipitor is simply the one with the best marketing program. If you want to know the real truth about statins and their dangers, read my past article The Truth About Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs.

In the case of an elevated cholesterol level, normalizing it without drugs is one of the easiest tricks in the book. All you need to do is radically reduce grains that are easily converted to sugar and sugars, which raise your insulin levels and cause your liver to make more cholesterol. Then add enough exercise to improve your HDL/cholesterol ratio.

Fine tuning would involve eating properly for your metabolic type and following the other recommendations from the Total Health Program.

Related Articles:

‘Experts’ Recommend Higher Doses of Cholesterol Drugs

The Truth About Crestor: Is Crestor Dangerous And, if so, Why?

Lipitor May Suppress Immune System — There Are Far Better Options