Here come the ads for Repatha®

If you have high cholesterol, you need to know about the results of Amgen's Repatha® study. Highly anticipated by cardiologists and insurers, the trial evaluated whether adding a PCSK9 inhibitor to statin treatment improves outcomes.  

Here are the major take-aways the pharmaceutical company will want you to see:

• Adding Repatha® to statin treatment dramatically lowered LDL (bad) cholesterol - from an average of 92 mg/dL to 30 mg/dL.
• This cut the risk of heart attack and stroke by over 20 percent
• There was no increase in side effects, including muscle achiness, cognitive issues or diabetes

Here is what the pharmaceutical company will want to gloss over:

• There was no reduction in overall rates of death
• We don’t know the long term effects of having extremely low LDL levels – patients in the study were on the drug for less than 3 years and this medication is meant to be taken for life
• Repatha® costs $14,000 per year

What you should take away:

• This study adds to the consistent data that lowering LDL reduces heart disease risk, no matter what you use to get there
• If your doctor prescribes Repatha® and you have a high deductible, be prepared for sticker shock. And even if your insurer covers the drug, you may still be stuck with a very high co-pay
• Given the lack of long term side effect data, you should think of this drug as a last resort, not a first line option
• Food is always the better answer. It’s tried and true.  It has no side effects.  And when full of fiber, omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidants and plant sterols, it’s already extensively proven to lower LDL cholesterol and markedly reduce the risk of heart disease. 

by Elizabeth Klodas MD, FACC

http://clinicaltrialresults.org/Slides/ACC2017/Fourier_Sabatine.pdf

 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-heart-amgen-cholesterol-idUSKBN16O1MV