For the many people who suffer from high cholesterol and its potentially life-threatening side effects, it’s always challenging to find a treatment that’s effective and accessible. In recent years, the drug – Tredaptive has been popular amongst people who need to regulate their cholesterol levels, but recent studies in the US have argued that it is ineffective and potentially harmful.
The company that produces it – Merck has recently announced plans to stop the production of the medicine and suspend its distribution around the world. These measures have arisen as a result of evidence brought to light by the recent – HPS2 study, which have alerted scientists to the possible dangers of the drug and how its use can cause hazardous side-effects.
On a global basis – Merck, has strongly recommended that all health professionals with the power to administer the treatment, immediately discontinue recommending it for patients and encourage them to discuss a withdrawal-strategy, as well as considering options for alternative-treatment.
According to Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer at Merck:
“Patients currently taking Tredaptive are our priority, and we are committed to continue to work with regulatory agencies around the world to ensure that physicians have appropriate information as we take steps to suspend the availability of Tredaptive”.
The study used a sample of 25,673 respondents who were identified as being at high-risk of experiencing cardiac-events, as a consequence of high-cholesterol levels, and observed the effects of extended niacin and laropiprant release, compared to statin-therapy as a means of treating the cholesterol levels. The sample were observed for an average of approximately 4 years, and researchers ascertained that patients that combined statin-therapy with niacin and laropiprant release, experienced no reduction in cardiac-events, compared with those who just undertook statin-therapy. Moreover, patients who undertook a hybrid of statin therapy with extended niacin and laropiprant release, had a greater tendency to experience serious adverse side-effects
According to Merck:
“Preliminary analyses suggest that the adverse events fall within the following broad categories: blood and lymphatic, gastrointestinal, infections, metabolism, musculoskeletal, respiratory and skin. Additional analyses are ongoing to understand the adverse events within these categories.”
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