Pharmaceutical company Merck announced yesterday that its controversial drug Vytorin showed that it could significantly reduce cardiovascular events in a new study.  The drug combines two existing drugs – simvastatin and ezetimibe.  Cardiovascular events included death due to cardiovascular causes, non-fatal heart attacks, non-fatal stroke, and rehospitalization for unstable chest pain.  The combination drug performed better than the existing cardiovascular therapy of simvastatin alone.  Ezetimibe is sold under the brand name Zetia and is used to treat high cholesterol.

According to Forbes, Vytorin was called into question in 2007, when many doctors begin doubting its effectiveness.  As a result, prescriptions for the pills have fallen by more than 50 percent.  Now, the new drug trial that used 18,000 patients can help vindicate Merck.  The response to Vytorin was part of a backlash against drug companies borne out of a mistrust for drugs that may be dangerous.  The catalyst was another Merck drug, Vioxx, a painkiller that caused heart attacks and was withdrawn from the market.

At the heart of the issue is the connection between lowering “bad” cholesterol, or low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and preventing heart attacks.  WebMD reports that LDL collects in the walls of the blood vessels, causing the blockages of atherosclerosis and increasing the risk for a heart attack due to a blood clot.  Merck’s combination drug uses a cholesterol medication to boost the capabilities of the existing therapy simvastatin.  However, despite the efficacy shown in the newest study, many still doubt that lowering cholesterol is beneficial in this way.  Certainly, more studies will come that make arguments on both sides.