Baychol is a statin anti-cholesterol drug which was recalled because muscle damage releases muscle debris into the bloodstream which then clogs up the kidneys and causes renal failure.
Lipitor
Lawsuits were filed in New York claiming that Lipitor (atorvastatin) causes memory loss, peripheral neuropathy, fatigue and muscle damage. Lipitor's labelling warns patients to tell their doctor if they suffer any symptoms of muscle pain or weakness.
More Lipitor litigation against Pfizer was filed on September 28, 2005 in Boston by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro claiming Pfizer deceived consumers about the benefits of Lipitor through deceptive marketing and advertising activities. Billions of Lipitor profits come from patients who do not benefit from the drug.
According to the complaint, Pfizer launched a massive campaign to convince the public that Lipitor is a beneficial treatment for nearly everyone with elevated cholesterol, even though no studies have shown it to be effective for women and those over 65 years of age who do not already have heart disease or diabetes.
Crestor
Crestor (rosuvastatin) is a statin anti-cholesterol drug similar to the recalled drug Baycol. Compared to other statins, Crestor has the greatest kidney toxicity, causing muscle breakdown products to clog the kidneys. During clinical trials, patients taking the 80 mg dose of Crestor began to show clogging of the kidneys with the muscle debris. Because of this finding, the 80 mg dosage was discontinued.
Source: http://www.drdach.com/
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Gary Moller comments:It is standard that everybody who is identified as having raised cholesterol and/or had a "turn" with their heart, is placed on a cholesterol-lowering drug. I have written several articles about this here. The trend to progressively lower the bar for medicating cholesterol is almost at the point where just about the majority of older New Zealanders should be on these powerful drugs! Ridiculous and dangerous if you want my opinion.
Cholesterol is essential for life and anything that interferes with its uptake and the way it is used within the body will cause ill health - eventually. I have seen enough cases of ill health that appear to be related to the use of cholesterol lowering medication to be convinced that a person is better off not taking these except in the worst cases and even then, only temporarily.
The better approach to managing cholesterol is to use diet and exercise to maintain healthy levels and ratios of cholesterol and to also have a diet that is rich in anti-oxidants, like natural vitamin E and vitamin C to maintain healthy arteries and to prevent circulating fats from going rancid. Rest assured that there are effective natural therapies as alternatives to these medications that can cause so much ill health.
Cholesterol absorption inhibitors appear to be an alternative to statins and, in some instances, complement to statins when used in combination. In the later case, statin dosing can be significantly reduced. Cholesterol absorption inhibitors stay in the gut per se and reduces biliary and dietary cholesterol uptake from the gut into the blood stream. Again, an attractive strategy: effective with little side effects. New naturally occurring cholesterol absorption inhbitors are being evaluated.
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