It has begun.....

Thu Jul 29, 4:08 AM ET



LONDON (Reuters) - Britain became the first country in the world to sell a cholesterol-lowering drug without a prescription Thursday when a low-dosage form of Merck & Co Inc.'s Zocor was launched.



Statins like Zocor are taken by millions of people around the world to reduce the risk of heart attack and have become the most profitable drugs in the world. But until now they have only be available under doctor supervision.

In a ground-breaking move in May, however, the British government approved the switch to over-the-counter (OTC) status, arguing that easier access would allow more people to protect themselves from the risk of coronary heart disease.

Many doctors have voiced concern about the decision, which they contend will result in some people taking the medicine who do not need it while others could receive an inadequate dose.

The new version of Zocor, or simvastatin, will be marketed by Johnson & Johnson MSD under the brand name Zocor Heart-Pro at a cost of 12.99 pounds per 28-day pack.

The 10-milligram dose is designed for people at moderate risk of heart disease, a number that could total more than seven million.

Pharmacists will be able to sell it to customers after asking about their situation and offering various health tests to ensure it is safe to give them the drug.

The move is expected to help reduce the state's drug bill significantly. Currently, Britain's National Health Service spends around 700 million pounds ($1.28 billion) on statin drugs each year.

The success of the scheme in Britain will be monitored closely by drug regulators around the world, who are under pressure from governments to make more medicines available OTC in order to reduce runaway healthcare costs. ($1=.5488 POUND)

Well, maybe now the medical establishment will get what it has been hoping for. . . a nation on statins.


If it turns out that heart disease is, in fact, simply a statin-deficiency disease (as the establishment seems to think) this should wipe it out in Britain. (Provided everyone takes the pill .)

This is just so scary.

But you know what? It makes me really thankful for this forum. If it wasn't for this place, I'd probably be nodding my head like the puppets the industry wants us to be, and thinking this is a good thing or something.

If it wasn't for this forum, I'd still believe the health industry knows what it's doing. My eyes wouldn't have been opened to the fact that health is being driven by corporate interests and not by the common good.

If it wasn't for this forum, I'd still believe that dieticians know what they are talking about.

I agree wholeheartedly and want to add that even though this news is scary, hopefully it will prevent the government from foolishly thinking they should put statins into the drinking water. This way only those unfortunate enough to listen to their doctors, the media, the government and dieticians will be slowly killing themselves and the rest of us will be left alone.

I agree with Angeline too....but my concern is that there will be one iota of improvement in brittan....as the sales go up....and the downside will be played down (or not reported at all). THAT could lead the gov't to think that it WOULD be a good idea to put it in the water.

My concern is that too many people will take these like they were vitamins....one a day can't hurt you. They won't read the literature that comes with it. They'll take them irregularly. They won't know what symptoms to watch for....and if they do have a negative reaction, run a higher risk of having serious damage before they report it to their doc. At least if you get a prescription, the doc should want to monitor your blood levels to watch for liver, muscle, etc damage.

Actually this might turn out the other way. Look how little it took for the administration to ban such things as Ephreda. It might just wake up people to the dangers of Statins!.

Let's face it, if there is something that is downplayed, it's the symptoms from prescription drugs. Adverse reactions, even death are expected! How many people dies a year from drugs, badly administered or otherwise. A lot! That is usually hushed up. That's because the administration protect itself.

However there is no such "immunity" for OTC drugs. Adverse reactions will come to be well publicized in time.

I completely agree. There are serious side effects from statins, like:

The most common side effects of statins are:

Nausea
Diarrhea
Constipation
Muscle aching
Occasionally, statin drugs cause elevated levels of liver enzymes. If the increase is mild, you typically can continue taking the drug. If the increase is severe, you may need to discontinue it. Usually, liver abnormalities due to statins improve after you stop taking the drugs. Certain other cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as gemfibrozil (Lopid) and niacin, increase the risk of liver toxicity when taken with statins. Because liver problems may develop without causing symptoms, people who take statins should have their liver function tested periodically.

Statins also may cause muscle pain and tenderness due to statin myopathy. In severe cases, muscle cells break down (rhabdomyolysis) and release the protein myoglobin into the blood. Excretion of myoglobin into the urine can impair kidney function and lead to kidney failure. Certain drugs when taken with statins increase the risk of rhabdomyolysis. These include:

Gemfibrozil (Lopid)
Erythromycin (Erythrocin)
Clarithromycin (Biaxin)
Antifungals, such as ketoconazole and itraconazole
Nefazodone (Serzone)
Cyclosporine (Sandimmune, Neoral)
Niacin
If you take statins and have new muscle aching or tenderness, consult with your doctor. Also, avoid taking statins with grapefruit juice, which alters your body's metabolism of these drugs.

And they want us to stop low carbing until "the long term effects" are known! Apparently it's the unknown that really bothers them. KNOWING a drug will cause serious problems...well, now they know!

I know, it's quite ironic isn't it, considering that low-carb lowers cholesterol, for some people, in sometimes dramatic ways. Yet they are worried about potential long term effects. Yet they downplay the very serious side effects of Statins, while touting the very unproven benefits.

Guess the big difference here is that no one in the pharmaceutical industry makes money off low-carb.

The NHS were reluctant to prescribe statins in the first place, but were "persuaded" to do so by a big lobbying campaign (wonder who was behind that?). Then doctors were wooed by drug reps to lower the prescribing limit from 6.6 or over to 5.2. Now the NHS have found a way to get rid of statins, and as a tax payer, I am delighted.

It was recently reported, in the UK, that 1 in 16 people presenting at the ER where prescribed drugs related,

A Prescription drug costs £6.20 what ever the drug, under the NHS.

Statins without prescription £12.99.

Me a sceptic, ????

Lez