Pfizer: More Lipitor Cuts hHart Complications More

By Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press

A reanalysis of research data found a high dose of popular cholesterol pill Lipitor lowers risk of heart attack and stroke in some patients with both heart disease and kidney disease, the drug's maker said Monday.

Pfizer Inc. said the new analysis, which it funded, included patients with both those diseases who also were either obese or had metabolic syndrome. That's a group of related heart risk factors including obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Lipitor is not approved to treat those conditions.

Compared with patients getting the starter dose of 10 milligrams of Lipitor, those getting 80 milligrams of Lipitor had one-third the risk of cardiovascular complications. Those include death from heart disease or surviving a heart attack, stroke or cardiac arrest.

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