Lipitor, Atorvastatin News

Lipitor and other cholesterol-lowering medications are covered by the Medicare Part D plan, which increased prescription drug coverage for seniors in 2006.

Even people who do not have high cholesterol and established heart disease could benefit from cholesterol-lowering statin drugs if they have other risk factors, a new study suggests.

July 1, 2009 -- Millions of people without established heart disease could benefit from cholesterol -lowering statin therapy even if they don't have high cholesterol , a new analysis suggests.

Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol and, in recent years, have often been touted as a 21st century weapon against heart disease.

A reader asks Joe and Teresa Graedon about the flu-like symptoms he experienced when he began taking the statin Lipitor, symptoms that stopped after his doctor took him off the cholesterol drug.

Generic-drug and specialty-pharmaceutical manufacturer Watson Pharmaceuticals agreed to acquire the generic-drug company Arrow Group for $1.75 billion in cash and stock.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday it will buy privately held Arrow Group for $1.75 billion, clinching a long-expected deal by the U.S. generic drugmaker to expand internationally.

That's the new finding from a study of more than 3,000 Group Health patients published online on June 16 in advance of the British Medical Journal's June 20 print issue.

MONDAY, June 15, 2009 - A statin can be a lifesaver if you're at risk of heart disease , but some people who take the cholesterol-lowering drugs - up to 20%, by some estimates - have to stop because of muscle pain, the most common side effect.

In less than two years on Lipitor, I went from being able to climb the ancient temples at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, to being almost unable to walk to my mailbox.

Aggressive cholesterol-lowering therapy using high-dose atorvastatin was more effective at preventing heart failure among patients who had had a previous heart attack than usual treatment with simvastatin, according to a study published in the May 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology .

From the Departmento de Farmacologa, Facultad de Medicina , and Laboratorio de Investigacin Vascular y Renal , Fundacin Jimnez Daz, Universidad Autnoma de Madrid; and the Departmento de Ciencias de la Salud III , Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain.

June 17, 2009 -- By some estimates, as many as 10% of people who take cholesterol -lowering statins experience troubling muscle pain , and many stop taking the drugs because of it.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic disease, today announced final data from three separate Phase II trials involving its lead cholesterol management compound, lomitapide , which is a microsomal triglyceride transfer protein inhibitor small molecule drug.

A Taking popular cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, such as LipitorA , does not lower the risk of pneumonia.

What's a safe way to kill mosquitoes? We have a cabin on a pond, and the mosquitoes are ferocious.

Pfizer Inc. , the worlda s biggest drugmaker, sued rival Mylan Inc. asking a judge to prohibit sales of a generic version of its cholesterol-fighting medicine Lipitor until 2017.

Dear Dr. Donohue: My doctor wants me to take a statin drug even though my total cholesterol is normal, and my LDL cholesterol isn't very high.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: My doctor wants me to take a statin drug even though my total cholesterol is normal and my LDL cholesterol isn't very high.

Danish scientists reported the strongest evidence yet that an often-ignored form of cholesterol can cause heart attacks, Reuters reported.