Healthy Skepticism Library item: 741

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Mercola.com
Crestor: No Truth in Advertising?
mercola.com 2005 Jan 8

Full text:

AztraZeneca, the maker of the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor, has been accused of false advertising. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the drug company has printed misleading claims about Crestor’s safety that state:

A medication can be more effective and just as safe” — this statement plays down the risks involved in taking a 40 mg dose of Crestor

The FDA has confidence in the safety and efficacy of Crestor” — this statement is not only misleading, but it suggest that the FDA does not feel the drug poses any safety concerns

The drug company’s faulty advertisement, which ran in national and regional publications, also quoted a statement that was “supposedly” taken directly from the FDA’s Web site. The statement read: “The scientists at the FDA who are responsible for the approval and ongoing review of Crestor have publicly confirmed that Crestor is safe and effective, and that the concerns that have been raised have no medical or scientific basis.”

Not only does no such statement exist, the FDA has acknowledged that Crestor is one of five drugs on the market that pose serious safety concerns and needs “to be seriously looked at.” In addition, there has been much concern surrounding Crestor since the day it was approved. Apprehension has also mounted regarding this drug, as it is the only cholesterol-lowering statin that causes acute kidney failure and places patients at a high risk of rhabdomyolysis (a potentially life-threatening muscle disorder).

AztraZeneca has stopped running the disputed advertisements, though the company continues to fiercely defend the image of Crestor.