The Singular Form of “Data”? Anecdote. But A Good One, Nonetheless.

This is from a CafePharma board, for Old Schering-Plough — in a thread on Arbiter 6 – HALTS learnings — it clearly speaks for itself:

. . . .I work for Merck and I have been taking Zocor and Niaspan for the last two years because my HDL was low and my LDL was high. I have a family history of heart disease and my doctor was concerned about me developing CAD with my numbers. I did have some flushing early on with Niaspan but it went away withing a couple of months and I have only flushed 3-4 times in my entire two years taking Niaspan. It sucks for Merck that this ARBITER-6 trial looks bad for Zetia but as a patient I am happy to know what I am taking is a better option than Vytorin. No one here should be bashing Niaspan, this drug has raised my HDL from 33 to 48 and from what my doctor says, it helps take a away the plaque in my arteries. Maybe I should be more of a company guy, but I would rather live to see 80 than die early when I could prevent it by taking Niaspan. . . .

This Arbiter 6 – HALTS Finding Was Statistically-Significant

Sometimes, a picture is worth 1,000 words.
This is one of those times (click to enlarge):

. . . .Zetia: 5% major cardiovascular event risk v. Niaspan: 1% major cardiovascular event risk. . . .

As Goes Medicare/Medicaid Reimbursement, So Goes Vytorin/Zetia

Natasha Singer, for The New York Times, is running this ominous-sounding paragraph, in her Arbiter 6 study coverage this morning:

. . . .On Friday, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services, asking its director, Kathleen Sebelius, what action she intended to take in light of the study results. Mr. Grassley sits on the Senate Finance Committee which has jurisdiction over Medicare and its drug spending. In 2006 and 2007, the drug makers made more than $300 million through Medicare Part D in sales of Vytorin, a drug that combines Zetia and a statin, Mr. Grassley wrote. . . .

This could be the death-knell, right here.