Heart Drug 'Hype'? Docs Debate Crestor
Despite recent enthusiasm over the drug, not all docs are prescribing it more.
Dec. 4, 2008— -- On Nov. 9, when the results of a trial on the use of statin drugs became public at the American Heart Association meeting, they were so promising that some heart experts believed they had the power to change medical practice.
Many felt the study would hail a new era in the use of the cholesterol-lowering drugs -- one in which more people would take these drugs for elevated levels of a heart disease marker known as C-reactive protein (CRP), and not for elevated cholesterol alone.
Now, nearly a month later, some primary care physicians say that such a shift has not yet occurred -- and that the benefits of the drug known as Crestor do not come without costs.
"The hype about this study is very far from the mark, scientifically," says Dr. Lee Green, a professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"Lifestyle modification works better, and doesn't carry the risks of the medication," agrees Dr. Linda Prine, associate clinical professor at New York City's Beth Israel Medical Center.
Green adds that he feels the trial was an attempt by AstraZeneca, the drug's manufacturer, to resurrect a compound that has done poorly on the market due to side effects.
"This study is the ultimate research-as-marketing-tool achievement," Green says.
In an e-mailed statement to ABC News, AstraZeneca maintained that Crestor's safety profile is in keeping with that of other statins -- and that it is now up to doctors and others to use the data from the JUPITER trial as they see fit.
"As is appropriate, the medical community, regulators, and guideline committees will now carefully consider these data and any implications for treating patients," the statement reads.
The initial results from the JUPITER study appeared encouraging. The study, which examined the effect of Crestor (the trade name for the statin drug rosuvastatin) on healthy middle-aged patients with normal levels of "bad" cholesterol but elevated CRP levels, showed that those taking the drug enjoyed a reduced risk of heart attack, stroke and death.
