"Inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, Doctor Robert Jarvik. Now I trust my heart to Lipitor."
Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor, spent well over $100 million dollars on ads like this in the first nine months of last year.
Gayle Williams, Consumer Reports' Deputy Health Editor, says that's because statins are a multi-billion dollar business.
Gayle Williams, Consumer Reports: "Around 20 million Americans take statins to lower their cholesterol. Three of these are available as generics and Pfizer wants to hang on to its market share."
Americans spent more than $6.5 billion on Lipitor in 2006, alone. The three generic statins: simvastatin, pravastatin, and lovastatin, cost far less.
Williams: "Lipitor is a highly effective drug, and it's one good choice for people who have high levels of LDL cholesterol, or who've had a heart attack, or who have acute coronary syndrome. However, the vast majority of people can get the same protection from a generic statin at less than half the cost."
And, although Lipitor's web site makes a point of saying there is "no generic form of Lipitor," there will be in two years, when its patent expires. No doubt that's another reason Pfizer is spending big bucks now to drill its brand name into your head.
Consumer Reports points out that generic drugs are chemical twins of brand-name drugs whose patents have expired. You can get more information about cost-saving generic statins from Consumer Reports' free service, Best Buy Drugs, at BestBuyDrugs.org .
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