Cholesterol drugs "oversubscribed to millions of Americans"

An article published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, The Lancet (January 20 issue), claims that cholesterol-lowering drugs are being over-prescribed and could spell big trouble for pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, maker of the best-selling medicine ever, Lipitor (atorvastatin), sales of which reached $12.89 billion for 2006 (see page 3).

The article, co-authored by Harvard Medical School clinical instructor John Abramson, states that clinical trials for coronary heart disease prevention fail to prove that anti-cholesterol drugs, such as Lipitor, provide benefit for many in the USA who are taking them.

If the medical community accepts Dr Abramson's conclusions, it could impact negatively on the sales of drugs such as Lipitor.