FDA warns of adverse cholesterol-heart drug interaction

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patients taking some common medications for high cholesterol and irregular heart beats can suffer severe muscle damage because of a problem in the way the drugs interact, the government warned on Friday.

The Food and Drug Administration said doctors should use extra care when prescribing Zocor, generic Zocor, or Vytorin to patients who are also taking amiodarone, a heart rhythm drug marketed as Cordarone or Pacerone. The danger is higher for patients taking more than 20 milligrams a day of the cholesterol drugs, the agency said.

The generic name for the cholesterol medications is simvastatin.

Muscle injury is a risk with any of the cholesterol drugs known as statins, including Lipitor, particularly for the elderly. Although the risk of such injuries is low overall, they can be serious because they can lead to kidney failure and even death.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i7U4tp83mOZ4oZMBh3VnrZdIaxWAD92E92BG0

along with a lot of other shit. I told her first thing to throw out the Zocor! They hand that shit out like candy and it is dangerous.