Trial tests for Vytorin, a cholesterol-lowering drug, have shown that the medication has absolutely no beneficial effect on patients and that on the contrary, instead of reducing the plaques of fat in arteries that are responsible for heart problems, they’ve doubled in size.

Vytorin is a combination of two drugs, Zetia (Ezetimibe), which is an anti-hyperlipidemic medication meant to decrease cholesterol absorbtion in the intestine, and marketed by Merck and Schering-Plough, and Zocor (Simvastatin), a statin used to control high cholesterol levels and prevent cardiovascular disease.

The latest studies have shown that Zetia alone can reduce cholesterol levels by 20 percent, but has no effect whatsoever on heart attacks and strokes risk reduction. And not only that, but in combination with Zocor, the fatty plaques in the arteries have doubled their size in patients taking Vytorin, compared to patients taking only Zocor.

After a two-year trial period and 720 patients tested, Merck and Schering-Plough reached one single conclusion: there is no benefit in taking Vytorin, compared to taking Zocor alone. However, it may look like news to us, but Merck and Schering-Plough have been aware of the results since April 2006, but failed to make them public.

The reason for the delay is easy to understand, as both Zetia and Vytorin significantly increased the incomes of the two companies. Zetia’s market debut in 2002 raised concernes that it fails to prevent cardiovascular complications and that it is nothing more than a cholesterol-reducing drug, but doctors have been prescribing Zetia and Vytorin to millions of Americans, after they received the approval of the Food and Drug Administration.

Despite the better statistics in cholesterol reduction of Vytorin compared to Zocor, the bottom line is that Vytorin has negative effects on the fatty plaques in the arteries, which lead to higher risks of heart attacks and strokes. Dr. Howard Weintraub from the Center of the Prevention of Cardio-Vascular Disease said in a Washington Post interview: “These results are very important considerations on how we treat patients with elevated cholesterol and will very likely impact the way we choose drugs to lower cholesterol and eliminate plaque.”