The New York Times
By MICHAEL MASON
NEW YORK — Perhaps you heard it? The wail last month from the labs of heart researchers and the offices of Wall Street analysts?
Pfizer Inc., the pharmaceutical giant, halted late-stage trials of a cholesterol drug called torcetrapib after investigators discovered that it increased heart problems — and death rates — in the test population.
Torcetrapib wasn’t just another scientific misfire; the drug was to have been a blockbuster heralding the transformation of cardiovascular care. Statin drugs like simvastatin (sold as Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) lower blood levels of LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, thereby slowing the buildup of plaque in the arteries.
Full Story: An Old Cholesterol Remedy Is New Again