Cholesterol drug axed over safety fears it can trigger serious side effects

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 21:01 EST, 11 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:24 EST, 12 January 2013

Doctors have been told to stop prescribing an anti-cholesterol drug because it doesn't work and can trigger serious side effects.

The European drug watchdog yesterday suspended Tredaptive after safety concerns..

Around 3,000 Britons with high cholesterol levels are taking it, usually in addition to standard cholesterol-lowering statins.

The European drug watchdog has told doctors to stop prescribing an anti-cholesterol drug because it doesn't work and can trigger serious side effects

US manufacturer Merck announced it is withdrawing Tredaptive from sales in 40 countries - it is not marketed in the US - where it trades under different names.

The European Medicine Agency (EMA) said it had reviewed new data from a large a large, long-term study involving over 25,000 patients, which cast doubt on the drug's benefits.

The preliminary results of the study found adding it to statins did not reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke compared with statins alone.

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Cholesterol drug axed over safety fears it can trigger serious side effects