Patients who are taking Vytorin or Zetia should continue taking their medication and talk to their physician

Patients who are taking Vytorin or Zetia should continue taking their medications and talk to their physician

Patients who are taking Vytorin or Zetia should continue taking their medication and talk to their physician

A recent clinical trial involving cholesterol-lowering drugs Zetia and Vytorin has gained national media attention and raised questions about what patients should do if they are currently taking these medications.

Although media reports indicate that the trial yielded no benefit from the combination of Ezetimibe (Zetia) and Simvastatin (Vytorin), there is no reason for patients to stop taking Vytorin or Zetia without first consulting their physician.

About 5 million people around the world take Zetia and Vytorin, which are both produced by Merck and Schering-Plough. The company stated in a news release that Zetia failed to slow the accumulation of fatty plaque in arteries and actually might have contributed to plaque formation – although by such a small amount that the finding could have been a result of chance.