Article: Heart Choices; A cholesterol drug study suggests that consumers have been lured into overspending.

IT'S NO WONDER medical costs are skyrocketing: Companies such as Merck and Schering-Plough have been brilliantly marketing a drug that hasn't been shown to improve health.

The two manufacturers released the results of a cholesterol study last month that compared Zocor, a generic cholesterol treatment, with Vytorin, a drug that combines Zocor with another drug called Zetia. Despite Vytorin's massive marketing campaign, the drug looks to be no more effective at reducing artery plaque than Zocor alone, even though Vytorin is three times as expensive as generic Zocor.

The study results have led to much confusion among patients. Despite the rumors, Vytorin is not known to be dangerous; it's just ...

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