Another Attempt by Merck to make cholesterol drug over-the-counter

Pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co., has recently made a 3rd attempt to make the cholesterol lowering drug, Mevacor, available to consumers over-the-counter.

Since 2000, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected the attempts due to possibly too many of the wrong people using Mevacor and risking unnecessary side effects.

Merck & Co. defended their case by arguing that only 6 million of 20 million Americans who have moderately high cholesterol are being treated. Merck believes that consumers have enough knowledge about heart-clogging cholesterol to use the drug properly.

The FDA’s scientific advisors will make a recommendation on Thursday, December 14th. However, they don’t know how long it will be to officially come to a decision on the issue.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Mevacor / Lovastatin: Overview.