Patent for statin drug included Co Q 10

Dr. Weeks’ Comment:  Statins are prescribed as cholesterol-lowering agents whose main mechanism of action is anti-inflammatory.  They are a multibillion industry. There are many critics of statins (see the BusinessWeek article re statins: ” Lipitor in the dog house”) but prescribing for hypercholesterol or heart diseases (hypertension etc) remains the standard of care. 

Want to learn some interesting history? 

The statins were brought to market based upon a patent which required a natural substances to be taken along with the statin drug called Co Q 10.  To repeat, the patent INCLUDED the naturally occurring energy enhancing molecule (now a common nutritional supplement) Co Q 10.  (I reported on this in 2009) 

And yet the vast majority of doctors gave statin drugs without recommending Co Q 10.  Why? Because the sale from drug reps to docs would have been too complicated if the message was  “Give your patient this great new drug but make certain to advise them to take the non-patentable, inexpensive Co Q 10 as well or else the patient will suffer from many problems: muscle cramps,  fatigue, dementia etc.”  

So people you know and love were  (and still are being!) given statins without Co Q 10.  Even the Wall Street Journal came out with warning about statins and memory loss in 2008.  Finally even the FDA issued a black box warning about statins clarifying the risk on memory loss.  

THE PATENT FOR STATIN MEDICATION

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutical carrier and an effective antihypercholesterolemic amount of an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor and an amount of Coenzyme Q₁₀ effective to counteract HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor-associated skeletal muscle myopathy.

2. A composition of claim 1 in which the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor is selected from: lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin and sodium-3,5-dihydroxy-7-[3-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(methylethyl)-1H-Indole-2yl]- hept-6-enoate.

3. A method of counteracting HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor-associated skeletal muscle myopathy in a subject in need of such treatment which comprises the adjunct administration of a therapeutically effective amount of an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor and an effective amount of Coenzyme Q₁₀ to counteract said myopathy.

4. A method of claim 3 in which the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor is selected from the group consisting of: lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin and sodium-3,5-dihydroxy-7-[3-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(methylethyl)-1H-Indole-2yl]- hept-6-enoate.

Other References

• The New England Journal of Medicine, Scott M. Grundy 319 No. 1, pp. 24-33 Jul. 7, 1988
• Folkers et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 82, 901(1985)
• Folkers et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 82, 4513(1985)
• M. S. Brown & J. Goldstein, J. Lipid Res., 21, 505 (1980)
• H. Mabuchi et al, N.E.J. Med., 478 (1981

SOURCE:  http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4933165/claims.html

For more shocking news about statins, see www.weeksmd.com and search “statin” and also scan the links below.

Meanwhile,  Niacin and magnesium can be quite helpful for you and your doc to consider