Statins like Lipitor, Crestor and
Zocor are the main medicines for this, and a lot of research shows they work.
To combat this, medication discount cards and
Zocor coupons are being made available for families and individuals without prescription coverage—and to those with insurance if it does not cover all needed prescriptions—offering discounts of ten to seventy-five percent on many popular prescription drugs.
This is illustrated vividly in the statin market, when Merck's
Zocor (simvastatin) lost patent protection in the previous decade: doctors wrote 22 million prescriptions for
Zocor in 2005; by 2007, after
Zocor lost patent protection, the number fell to less than 1 million.
The study, published in the July edition of Health Affairs, examines the generic substitution of simvastatin for the branded cholesterol drug
Zocor over six months beginning June 23, 2006, when
Zocor's patent expired.
The other component of Vytorin is
Zocor, which is already available as a generic.
Statin drugs such as Crestor, Lipitor, Pravachol and
Zocor were initially formulated to reduce LDL cholesterol.
For example, Datamonitor notes, the branded
Zocor drug and its generic Simvor alternative are both used to treat hypercholesterolemia, but while 28
Zocor tablets cost Dh230, one can get 30 Simvor pills for just Dh99.
This drug alone or in combination with the popular statin drug
Zocor (simvastatin) conveyed no medical benefit to patients.
The Senate panel, along with the House's energy and commerce committee, have been examining how the two companies handled data comparing Merck's
Zocor against their jointly marketed drug Vytorin, a combination of
Zocor and Schering-Plough's Zetia.
In addition, if combined with Sustiva, the following drugs may require a change in the dose of either Sustiva or the other medicine: Ritadin (ritampin); Sporanox (itraconazole); Nizoral (ketoconazole); calcium-channel blockers (for example, Cardizem, Tiazac, and others); and the cholesterol-lowering medications Lipitor (atorvastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), and
Zocor (simvastatin).
Some of these include Zoloft, for the treatment of depression and certain types of anxiety disorders, and statin
Zocor for high cholesterol levels.
