The New England Journal of Medicine has now reversed itself on the issue whether Vytorin causes cancer.

In the initial release of data back in July, NEJM stood by Merck and Schering-Plough, who hired an Oxford consultant to rule that a 50 percent statistically significant increased risk of cancer was by chance.

Mike Adams, of Natural News, pointed out in an earlier posting that such statistical manipulation based primarily on the opinion of the Oxford reviewer, was ridiculous. So NEJM had a sudden change of heart and finally agreed with Mr. Adams.

On September 2, 2008 NEJM published the full study in question, along with the Oxford report, and it's own editorial now stating whether the increased mortality risk is due solely to the play of chance is uncertain.

Ezetimibe (the Zetia portion of Vytorin) interferes with the gastrointestinal absorption not only of cholesterol, but also of other molecular entities that could conceivably affect the growth of cancer cells.

Now physicians and patients are left with the uncertainty about the efficacy and safety of the drug. The rare reversal of opinion has sent a shockwave through Big Pharma's world. It's like having the stamp of approval withdrawn at the last minute. Hurray! That's good news for everyone.

Vytorin has been, for a good while, the controversial cholesterol lowering drug that has been the center of a major advertising fraud that netted Merck and Schering-Plough over 10 billion dollars in sales in the last two years.

Merck and Schering-Plough are facing congressional investigation, various state attorney general investigations and plaintiff class action lawsuits. All the negative publicity has caused sales to fall off, yet the questionable drug is still a top seller for Merck and Schering-Plough in 2008.

The current study that uncovered cancer risk, called the SEAS trial was supposed to prove that patients whose heart valves were partially blocked would benefit from Vytorin and not need valve therapy or have heart failure. In this regard the SEAS trial showed that Vytorin was worthless, despite lowering LDL cholesterol.

This finding is consistent with another unrelated study just published in The Lancet that showed fish oil could save lives in patients with heart failure, while the statin drug Crestor could not. The researchers in this study concluded that "patients with heart failure should not be treated with statins."

What's even more alarming about statin's safety is the information in another article published in NEJM just recently. It reported on a detailed analysis of the human genome in those with statin-induced muscle damage. Scientists uncovered an alteration in a gene that causes statin drugs to be more readily absorbed by the liver, thereby making the drugs very toxic.

Fifteen percent of our population has the risk-related gene variant. At this time no screening is done to see who is at potential risk. That means one in six patients taking statins are likely to be damaged at a greater or lesser degree based on this one variable alone.

The original findings linking Vytorin to cancer appear to have been fraudulently swept under the rug by typical Big Pharma fraud and misrepresentation.

The NEJM's reversal on this issue is sending shockwaves through the industry. It's also reminding consumers that you cannot trust the medical journals because they will willingly participate in pharmaceutical fraud. But then what happens later, they reverse themselves when the truth comes out in other reports.

Can you imagine what would happen if the FDA found an Herb that increased the risk of cancer by 50 percent? Well, you can bet they would jump right on this issue and denounce it in any dose. But what is very concerning; is when a drug is found dangerous to take; the FDA somehow just remains utterly silent.

Let me make this real clear to everyone reading this article. If you are now on any statin drugs, you have been duped. You do not need any drug whatsoever to cure "high cholesterol" or any other disease. There are alternative measures you need to take to achieve the same cholesterol balancing effects.

Here's what will do it: red yeast rice, garlic supplements, B vitamins, blueberries and mineral supplementation. You don't need drugs to have a healthy cardiovascular system; all you need is some good nutrition and regular exercise.

I believe I would rather go this route and never have to suffer from the side effects of prescription drugs. So how about that alternative, everyone? Doesn't that make more sense?

Sonny Julius

Sonnyj@TheSunnySenior.com

www.HealthyIdeas.homestead.com