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November 9, 2008
Newsflash: Heart Attacks Caused by Crestor Deficiency
In a highly touted, prematurely aborted, manufacturer funded study, the drug Crestor was shown to lower the risk of heart attacks in people who weren't very likely to have one anyway.
The Jupiter study, funded by Crestor manufacturer Astra-Zeneca, originally planned to last 5 years was aborted at 1.9 years because the findings were so great it would be unethical to keep the results from our pill-popping society any longer. (huh?)
Dr. Andrew Tonkin, head of cardiovascular research at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, cautioned that the actual number of heart attacks and other cardiovascular events was low, even in the study participants that were taking placebos. There were 83 cardiac events of all types in the Crestor group, an 0.9% actual risk, compared with 157, or 1.8%, in the placebo group. "You would have to treat 180 people for two years to prevent one death," he said.
Lets do the math, 180 people get the CRP test at the bargain basement price of $50.00 per test, that's $9,000 just for testing (assuming 100% of the people tested "need" treatment). Then they will begin taking a pill at the everyday cost of $3.95 per pill, over two years that adds up to $2,883.50 per person. Multiply that by 180. $528,030 per life saved.
"I know everyone in my practice is going to come in in the next few weeks and ask if they should go on a statin after this, or be tested for CRP," said Dr. Sharonne Hayes, director of the Women's Health Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn
The real story is in the final paragraph:
Crestor's sales rose 28% in the third quarter, according to AstraZeneca, and Wall Street analysts estimate that Jupiter could end up doubling Crestor's sales by 2015, to $6.3 billion. AstraZeneca's stock has climbed 45% since Jupiter was halted last March.
Posted by Anna at November 9, 2008 11:21 PM