Trenton, NJ- A House committee that is meeting to examine the effectiveness and the safety of the popular cholesterol drug Vytorin and its sub components is beginning to turn up the head as they investigate the drug.
Executives of the drug company Merck and CO. as well as executives from Schering- Plough Corp are facing a deadline of Thursday at which they have to produce by that time fairly extensive data on clinical trials and a study called SEAS.
The new study has shown that Vytorin has an elevated risk for patients of developing cancer, and there are other drugs that are starting to feel the strain of inspections and deeper scrutiny.
The House Energy and Commerce committee wants answers to a number of their inquiries about how different drugs are affecting consumers and their constituents.
The answers to some more different and key questions remain unknown, the cholesterol fighting drugs Zocor, Vytorin, Zetia are all under pretty intense investigation in the new SEAS study being conducted.
The committee is directing the different companies that produce these drugs to appear before the House committee and answer specific questions about the health and overall safety of people that use their drugs.
Some people are concerned about reports of a secret report that has been give to the FDA, and while these companies deny this there are a number of companies that are dragging their feet about helping in the current probe into how these drugs perform, and if they pose a health risk to consumers.