The drug's maker, Merck & Co., didn't wait for the bad news to break. In anticipation of the findings, executives including Peter Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories, and Richard Pasternak, Merck's head of global scientific affairs, sought to discredit the study by calling it 'flawed' and misleading in press interviews and through a ...

A new study brings a new blow to Zetia . In a recent study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, it appears that taking the extended release form of a common supplement, niacin, works better in reducing atherosclerotic plaque thickness than Zetia, a newer cholesterol drug that is used to specifically lower LDL cholesterol.

In the study presented today at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Florida today, The Effect of Extended-release Niacin or Ezetimibe Added to Chronic Statin Therapy On Carotid Intima Media Thickness , study found that: Adding the cholesterol drug niacin to a statin improved HDL cholesterol levels and significantly ...

A month's supply of some of the latest diabetes medicines can cost more than $100 or even $200 if a patient is forced to pay out of pocket, says diabetes doctor Mark Schutta.

Niacin: Safe and effective treatment for cholesterol? Lynn MacPherson Niacin: Safe and effective treatment for cholesterol? Many Americans battle high cholesterol levels and are looking for treatments that are safe and effective with few side effects.

High doses of an experimental heart medicine being developed by Merck & Co MRK.N continued to show beneficial effects on both good HDL and bad LDL cholesterol levels eight weeks after patients stopped taking the drug, in a mid-stage study.

A drug has been found to cut the risk of heart attacks by almost half in 'healthy' people, researchers say today.

Moody's Investors Service issued a negative opinion on the pharmaceutical industry Thursday, saying drugmaker credit ratings will be under pressure until early 2012 because they won't be able to fully replace revenue from best-sellers that go off-patent. Over the 12 to 18 months, billion-dollar drugs like Pfizer's cholesterol drug Lipitor and ...

A trial showing that a form of niacin cleared arteries far better than Merck's Zetia cholesterol pill could have been disaster for the big drug maker.

Latest studies have reviewed the data and the effects, and found that the simplest solution, natural niacin is still the best way to lower your LDL cholesterol that signifies calcification, and raise your HDL cholesterol that removes the cholesterol before it calcifies your arteries and organs.

Taking the B vitamin niacin offers no additional benefit to seniors with coronary artery disease who are already prescribed cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, U.S. researchers say.

From EquityBites Health care company Pfizer Inc declared on Wednesday the submission of paediatric data for Lipitor to the European Medicines Agency .

The development of statins, a class of drugs that lower bad cholesterol, have made a big effect.

The good news is that a new report shows the percentage of American adults with high LDL cholesterol, the "bad" kind that clogs arteries, decreased by about one-third between 1999 and 2006.

An experimental drug for patients genetically disposed to extreme high cholesterol being developed by Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc and Genzyme Corp significantly lowered cholesterol in a pivotal late-stage study, according to data presented on Tuesday.

A new study raises more questions about ezetimibe , a drug used by millions of Americans in tandem with statins to lower LDL, or "bad," cholesterol.

Niacin is a B vitamin that is usually taken as a nutritional supplement but also occurs naturally in our systems.

Want more of that good HDL cholesterol ? Try a timed-release niacin, and be skeptical if your doctor gives the sales pitch for Zetia or Vytorin.

In patients with or at high-risk for coronary artery disease and LDL treated with statins to < 100mg/dL but low HDL , adding medication to raise HDL was compared with lowering LDL further.

Sunday, November 15, 2009 at 3:16 p.m. ORLANDO, Fla. - A new study raises fresh concerns about Zetia and its cousin, Vytorin - drugs that are still taken by millions of Americans to lower cholesterol, despite questions raised last year about how well they work.