Vytorin Panic

Once again, the popular press goes bananas over a result that doesn't really mean anything.

ENHANCE, a study measuring the effectiveness of simvastatin against ezetimibe/simvastatin found that the older, cheaper drug, simvastatin, did just as well at shrinking plaques on artery walls as the newer, more expensive one.

Of course, the popular press turns this into "VYTORIN DOESNT WORK!" screaming headlines. Which is not what it means.

First of all, all it means is that the plaques aren't getting smaller. That's all. No proof of death by any cause. It is news that Vytorin isn't doing it any BETTER, I guess, because it's expensive, and in principle, it SHOULD. But it isn't.

But the only results that really mean anything are patient centered, death or cardiac event trials. Period.

Sigh.