Quoted from http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/03/study_cites_zocor_risks.html
Study cites Zocor risks
By Star-Ledger Wire Services
March 20, 2010, 7:00AM
J.B. Reed/Bloomberg
A review of Zocor by the Food and Drug Administration said Merck's cholesterol drug could put some patients at risk of serious muscle injuries when taken at the highest dose.
Merck’s Zocor may put some patients at greater risk for muscle injury when taken at the highest approved dose, U.S. regulators said as part of a review of widely used cholesterol medicines.
The risk of muscle harm includes the most serious form, rhabdomyolysis, the Food and Drug Administration said yesterday in a statement on its website.
The condition can lead to severe kidney damage, kidney failure, and sometimes death.
Zocor, known chemically as simvastatin, is sold in generic form as well.
The drug also is an ingredient in Merck’s Vytorin and Abbott Laboratories’ Simcor. Muscle harm is known to be a possible side effect in other statins, a group that includes Pfizer’s Lipitor, the world’s top-selling drug. The alert followed the examination of a study that focused on Zocor and other data, the FDA said.