Some
Cholesterol And Heart Drugs Don't Mix
WASHINGTON
(AP) - Patients taking some common medications for high cholesterol
and irregular heart beats can suffer severe muscle damage because
of a problem in the way the drugs interact, the government warned
on Friday.
The
Food and Drug Administration said doctors should use extra care
when prescribing Zocor, generic Zocor, or Vytorin to patients
who are also taking amiodarone, a heart rhythm drug marketed
as Cordarone or Pacerone. The danger is higher for patients
taking more than 20 milligrams a day of the cholesterol drugs,
the agency said.
The
generic name for the cholesterol medications is simvastatin.
Muscle
injury is a risk with any of the cholesterol drugs known as
statins, including Lipitor, particularly for the elderly. Although
the risk of such injuries is low overall, they can be serious
because they can lead to kidney failure and even death.
The
FDA urged doctors to consider switching patients who are taking
the heart rhythm drug to other statins for controlling cholesterol.
The heart medication is mainly used to treat irregular rhythms
in the ventricles, the heart chambers that pump blood to the
lungs and body.
A
previous warning dating back to 2002 about the drug interaction
apparently has not put an end to the problem. The FDA said since
that time it has received 52 reports of serious muscle injury
to patients taking the combination of medications, and almost
all the patients had to be hospitalized.