Other LanguagesBefore you head down to your local drugstore for those wonder drugs promising the quick fix to complicated circulatory ailments such as cholesterol buildup, here's a little news to keep in mind.
Pharmaceutical companies Merck and Schering-Plough recently agreed to pay $5.4 million in legal fees to 36 different states to resolve allegations they delayed the release of negative results from studies conducted on Vytorin, which is made to reduce plaque in blood vessels. Clinical trials on the drug ended in May 2006, but nearly two years later, the manufacturers had still not published the damaging results. In the meantime, they had engaged in plenty of advertising to promote the product.
The results of the clinical trials showed that Vytorin, a mix of two other cholesterol-reducing drugs, is no more effective than those other two substances it combines at thinning cholesterol buildup in the bloodstream. The companies pulled the advertising after a partial report reveailed the negative results in January 2008 but the full report wasn't published until April.
Among the terms of the agreement, the pharmaceutical companies will submit all consumer-targeted TV commercials to the Food and Drug Administration and register their clinical trials with the government.