It's sold as Zetia and, as a combo pill with
Zocor, as Vytorin.
Because prescriptions that combat this can be costly, AffordRx is offering
Zocor discount cards to any and all patients who need them.
2),(3) The lack of differentiation (in the eyes of payers) between
Zocor and Lipitor played a major role in the decline--about 80% of patients on Lipitor had been using formulations of comparable efficacy to
Zocor; thus, there was almost immediate substitution of Lipitor with generic simvastatin.
Based on a review that extended over six consecutive quarters, the study concluded that states could have saved nearly $20 million if the substitution of simvastatin for
Zocor had been made more quickly.
In one sense, both Zetia and
Zocor did what was asked of them.
Zocor lowers bad cholesterol in the blood by blocking an enzyme in the liver; Zetia blocks absorption of cholesterol from food in the intestine.
to block the FDA from approving generic forms of
Zocor made by Teva or Ranbaxy.
Researchers studied 57 patients who had undergone coronary bypass surgery one year earlier and who had not responded to the statin drug
Zocor.
For instance, it assumes a 100% switch from
Zocor to generic simvastatin when
Zocor goes off patent this June, and a 50% switch from other statins to generic simvastatin.
Do take
Zocor (a cholesterol-lowering statin drug) before going to bed.
New research published in the medical journal Neurology suggests that eating a grapefruit each morning may have triggered a serious side effect in a 40-year-old woman taking the popular anti-cholesterol drug
Zocor.
The study found that using 40 mg daily of
Zocor cut the risk of cardiovascular problems in diabetics by about a third, even in those whose cholesterol levels were normal.
This myopathy might also be seen with Mevacor and
Zocor when erythromycin, Biaxin, Nizoral, Sporanox, cyclosporine, Serzone, protease inhibitors (for AIDS) or grapefruit juice are used with them.
Researchers gave 120 men with high cholesterol either the statin drug
Zocor or a placebo and instructed them to eat either their usual diet or a Mediterranean-type diet.
A September 1999 study by the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee staff found that Americans pay 81 percent more than do Canadians on the top ten drugs--including
Zocor, Prilosec, Procardia, Zoloft, and Norvasc--most widely used by seniors.