High Rate of Side Effects Damage Crestor’s Reputation

Crestor was initially developed by the Japanese pharmaceutical company Shionogi and was in-licensed to Astra-Zeneca, an international pharmaceutical company, in April 1998. The FDA approved Crestor in August 2003. Multiple clinical studies have confirmed the effectiveness of Crestor side effects in reducing LDL-C ('bad' cholesterol) and raising HDL-C ('good' cholesterol). Crestor is now treating over 4.5 million patients worldwide.Crestor belongs to a family of drugs called Statins. Statins combat cholesterol by blocking a specific enzyme in the body that synthesizes cholesterol. All Statins are accompanied by a higher risk of a dangerous and potentially fatal condition called Crestor rhabdomyolysis, but Crestor is particularly closely associated with it.

Statins are among the best-selling drugs in the United States, with $14.5 billion in combined sales in 2008. They use the liver to block the body’s creation of cholesterol, which is a key contributor to coronary artery Crestor diabetes.The FDA recently issued a warning that 80mg Crestor doses increase the risk of rhabdomyolysis and other muscle injuries.

Crestor Side Effect Outline

Potential side effects of Crestor, a blockbuster cholesterol drug that has been used by millions of people, may be linked to an increased the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening Crestor heart problems, such as Crestor cardiomyopathy, as well as diabetes. Crestor (atorvastatin) was approved by the FDA in 2003 for the treatment of high cholesterol. It is a member of a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins. The drug is a direct competitor for Pfizer’s Lipitor and has a 12% market share of the $21 billion U.S. statin industry.

For the past year, Crestor, a statin drug originally approved to treat high cholesterol, has been increasingly used in people who don’t have a cholesterol problem as a way to prevent heart attacks or strokes. This expanded use was allowed despite growing concern about Crestor side effects, including liver damage, kidney damage, diabetes and a muscle disease called rhabdomyolysis.

Crestor Lawsuits Seek Number of Damages

Crestor side effects have driven many patients of the cholesterol-reducing statin drug to file suit against drugmaker AstraZeneca in order to gain damages that could compensate for their serious injuries and diseases from the drug. Most of the lawsuits allege that AstraZeneca was aware of the serious side effects, such as muscle injury, type 2 diabetes milletus, congestive heart failure, necrotic pancreatitis, and Crestor rhabdomyolysis, and should have warned the public about them. If the drugmaker was not, in fact, aware of these Crestor side effects, some lawsuits continue, they should have been—and may have been negligent in clinical trials.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about “serious muscle toxicity” associated with Crestor and other statin drugs such as Zocor and Lipitor in 2005, after many patients had already sought legal aid in their battle against the drugmaker. Statins are now gaining a reputation, notorious for causing muscle damage, Crestor heart problems and other serious complications to patients who are only seeking to lower their cholesterol.

Asian Population at Highest Risk of Crestor Side Effects

Potential side effects of Crestor, a blockbuster cholesterol drug that has been used by millions of people, may be linked to an increased the risk of serious and potentially life-threatening heart problems, such as cardiomyopathy, as well as Crestor diabetes. These risks, though, seem to be heightened in the Asian population who have taken the drug. While the Crestor patients did have reduce levels of LDL -”bad”- cholesterol and an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein, as well as reduced heart-related

Lawyers Looking At Crestor Risks, In Spite of Company’s Claims to Safety

Touted as a “super statin,” Crestor is prescribed to treat high cholesterol and prevent cardivascular disease. The U.S. Food and Drug and Administration (FDA) issued approval for the drug in August 2003, and in the years since, there have been potentially fatal conditions linked as side effects of Crestor. According to recent research, the statin drug may increase the risk of heart problems, and lead to Crestor cardiomyopathy, which is a disease that makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood throughout the body. In some cases, this may result in the need for a heart transplant. Crestor (atorvastatin) was approved by the FDA in 2003 for the treatment of high cholesterol. It is a member of a class of cholesterol-

Crestor Surpasses Lipitor in Popularity With Physicians

Researchers analyzing recent data about cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor and Crestor, known as statins, believe they have discovered a link between the medications and an increased risk of diabetes. Despite this, for the past year, Crestor, a statin drug originally approved to treat high cholesterol, has been increasingly used in people who don’t have a cholesterol problem as a way to prevent heart attacks or strokes. This expanded use was allowed despite growing concern about Crestor side effects, including liver damage, kidney damage, diabetes and a muscle pain and weakness. In severe cases, patients have developed a disease inflicted on the muscles called Crestor rhabdomyolysis. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Will Crestor Side Effects Be Suffered With Generic Crestor?

Watson Pharmaceuticals announced that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., has received tentative approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for its rosuvastatin zinc 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg tablets. Watson's rosuvastatin zinc tablets are a new salt form of AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium) tablets. AstraZeneca filed suit against Watson on October 26, 2010 in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware seeking to prevent Watson from commercializing its product prior to the expiration of United States patent. AstraZeneca's lawsuit resulted in a stay of final FDA approval of Watson's NDA until April 1, 2013 or until final resolution of the matter before the court, whichever occurs sooner. In other legal matters Crestor lawsuits are being filed by patients who claimed serious, in some cases fatal side effects of Crestor. In terms of the generic version, no studies have been published yet as to the risks associated with rosuvastatin zinc like there have been with the brand-name Crestor.

New Findings Point to Crestor Being More Dangerous Than Other Statins

For the past year, Crestor, a statin drug originally approved to treat high cholesterol, has been increasingly used in people who don’t have a cholesterol problem as a way to prevent heart attacks or strokes. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approved the new Crestor indication regardless of the possibility of experiencing Crestor side effects,  last February, after reviewing a clinical study which showed a small reduction of strokes, heart attacks and other “cardiovascular events” among people taking the statin, compared with patients taking a placebo. The study was paid for by Astra Zeneca, the maker of Crestor. It has recently been shown that high-dose use of Crestor and other similar cholesterol drugs can increase the risk of developing diabetes, according to the findings of a new study.

Studies have brought to light serious side effects of Crestor. These include liver damage, kidney damage, diabetes and Crestor rhabdomyolysis. Critics

Crestor Side Effects: Patients Risk Lives for Health

Crestor lawsuits have been cropping up across the country ever since reports have begun surfacing about the side effects that have been linked to the statin drug. Statin drugs, which include the popular Lipitor and Crestor, have proven effective in fighting cholesterol and associated medical problems. Heart disease and strokes can be attributed in some cases to high cholesterol, and studies have shown statin drugs to be extremely effective in warding off heart problems after an initial stroke in certain patients, however there is potential for harmful Crestor side effects. It has also been proven effective in patients with diabetes or metabolic syndrome, conditions which under normal circumstances exacerbate the risk of heart problems.

Crestor Pushes Hard To Cover Potential Risks

Crestor won FDA approval in August 2003 in 5, 10, 20, and 40 mg. doses, but not the 80 mg. dosage. In recent months there have been reports of serious side effects of Crestor use. Statins, like Crestor, work by reducing production of cholesterol in the liver and by increasing the ability of the liver to remove LDL (bad) cholesterol from the blood. Statins reduce the level of LDL cholesterol in the blood and can reduce triglyceride levels and increase levels of HDL (good) cholesterol. 

As a result of Crestor side effects, two major healthcare insurers with over 15 million patients have refused to reimburse for Crestor. Still reeling from 31 cases of fatal rhabdomyolysis caused by Baycol which was removed from the market in 2001, healthcare companies are taking a more cautious and conservative approach. Other companies are placing Crestor in the highest tier of three out-of-pocket categories to discourage Crestor prescriptions due to the risk of Rhabdomyolysis. Crestor rhabdomyolysis causes

Crestor Side Effects Too Weighty to Risk?

Statins are the best-selling drugs in the United States, with $14.5 billion in combined sales in 2008. They use the liver to block the body’s creation of cholesterol, which is a key contributor to coronary artery disease. Statin is used in a number of popular cholesterol controlling drugs, including Crestor, Lipitor, Zocor, Mevacor, Lescol and Pravachol. Within two months of Crestor hitting the shelves serious harmful and dangerous side effects were brought to surface by those taking the drug. Not long after taking the prescription drug some patients began suffering a number of different harmful and dangerous side effects of Crestor.

Some other patients who had taken the prescription drug Crestor began to suffer from acute kidney failure. This is a condition that causes the kidney to fail, which is an instantly dangerous condition. When this happens several steps need to initiated immediately to avoid the risk of death. Some of these procedures include the removal of the kidney, kidney dialysis therapy and more. Other patients who have used the prescription drug reported Crestor cardiomyopothy, and

Study That Showed No Crestor Link To Heart Disease Now Accused of Being Subjective

Crestor has come under hot water as of late, due to issues concerning its effectiveness in treating cholesterol and its connection to kidney disease and Crestor congestive heart failure. The latest claims come as the drug industry struggles to clean up its image after a string of safety controversies that have sent its reputation to record lows. Public Citizen has been among the industry's most persistent critics, and recently turned its fire on Crestor, a cholesterol medicine from the UK's AstraZeneca which it claimed was unsafe. Now, on top of this, a study that claimed to show the reported benefits of Crestor’s ability to stave off heart disease, has been called into question.
The study has found that cholesterol medicines known as "statins", and Crestor in particular, may reduce the risk of strokes heart attacks and death by almost half when studied in patients with normal levels of cholesterol. Dr. Michel de Lergeril, however, of Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, alleges that the JUPITER study “data set appears biased”. According to Dr. Lergeril, the JUPITER study had several inconsistencies in its research methods that, some have claimed, could be linked to fact that over half of the researchers involved had financial ties to AstraZeneca.
Statins are undeniably good at lowering cholesterol, and studies published early this year showed that they were also effective in reducing levels of a protein involved in inflammation, a separate risk factor in heart disease. This issue has arisen, however, of possible side effects that can be just as deadly as high cholesterol. In a research study conducted by the independent watchdog group, Public Citizen, prescription data for Crestor was compared to that of other statin drugs. This research study showed that Crestor caused rhabdomyolysis almost 22 times more than its lowest dose competitor and 3 times more than its highest dose competitor. If this happens the potential problems of higher cholesterol are then replaced with a very real and long lasting disease that may be worse than the original cholesterol problem.

Crestor Side Effects Should Be Taken Seriously

Many Americans suffer from high cholesterol, a condition that is caused by a combination of fatty foods and genetics and can lead to more serious conditions, including heart disease and strokes – the most common killers in the United States. However, a series of drugs has recently aimed to change the prevalence of high cholesterol in many patients by lowering the cholesterol in the bloodstream. These drugs, called statin drugs, have proven to be effective and are gaining popularity in recent years. One of the most commonly-prescribed statin drug is Crestor.

Although these statin drugs have been beneficial to many patients with a risk of heart disease, Crestor side effects – some of which aren’t being taken seriously by patients or by the medical community. Crestor and other statins can cause headache, muscle pain and  weakness, nausea, kidney or liver problems, and abdominal pain. These side effects, especially the ones that have to do with the muscles, as well as another condition called Crestor rhabdomyolysis can be very serious.

More Patients, More Crestor Side Effects

With the Food and Drug Administration’s statement that Crestor could be used in an increased number of patients as it had been previously, February 2010 became a dangerous starting point for dozens of Crestor side effects. While the drug had previously only been approved for use in patients who had been diagnosed with heart disease, the FDA suddenly allowed doctors to prescribe certain patients – males over 50 and females over 60 – with only an apparent risk of heart disease the statin drug.
A number of patients who had not previously been eligible to take Crestor and other statin drugs were now taking them – and furthermore, a number of patients were now experiencing side effects of Crestor when, without the medication, they would never have been at risk. Cardiomyopathy, kidney injury, muscle injury, and Crestor diabetes have all been linked to the drug, and have affected many

Side Effects Catalysts for Crestor Lawsuits

Many patients of the cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor are looking into their legal options as more and more side effects become associated with the medication. Crestor is a statin drug – one of many similar drugs used to treat high cholesterol – and is one of the strongest of its kind available. Side effects have been linked to dosage strength with most statin drugs, and because of the strength of Crestor, it has been associated with a higher-than-normal number of Crestor side effects.

Crestor Recall Could Happen

Although no action seems to have been taken yet in regards to side effects associated with the cholesterol drug Crestor, results of a recent Food and Drug Administration study on a similar statin medication seem to indicate that Crestor and other such drugs can be dangerous to consumers, especially in certain doses. The Food and Drug Administration recently released an announcement that advised against doctors prescribing the popular cholesterol-reducing medication Zocor to patients in the 80 mg dose, formerly the highest possible dose. It is at this dosage that patients experience the greatest number of side effects. Experienced Crestor lawyers are representing patients who have decided to take legal action against the makers of Crestor.

Cholesterol Reducing Crestor Accused of Raising Risks For Patients

Crestor, a cholesterol reducing medication also known as a statin, was U.S. government approved in August of 2003. In June 2011, the FDA issued a warning to doctors about potential side effects of Zocor and Crestor when used at high doses (80 mg), saying that the cholesterol drug may increase the risk of muscle injury or myopathy. The warning came after more than a year of FDA experts reviewing clinical trials on Crestor and other drugs containing simvastatin, which had been available to the manufacturers for some time. Muscle injury and other Crestor side effects may hospitalize about 5 out of every 100,000 people who take the highest dose of the medication. The FDA has urged doctors not to start new patients on 80 mg Crestor and to only give the high dose to patients who have taken it for more than a year without side effects.

Crestor Side Effects: Are They Impairing Market Value?

Drugmaker AstraZeneca saw a drop in profits, especially for the cholesterol drug Crestor, in the first quarter of 2011 as compared to their reports in 2010. In 2010, the company made $11 billion, a three percent increase from the year prior – and Crestor itself gained in popularity, with percent increase in sales in the double digits. The first quarter of 2011 saw a drop in profits for the company, however, especially related to Crestor. Although it is not certain, there is a possibility that this loss is due to side effects of Crestor, which have been publicized more and more lately, and several lawsuits surrounding the medication.

Crestor and Other Statins Found to Have Adverse Side Effects in Some

Crestor, known generically as Rosuvastatin, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August of 2003 for the treatment of high-cholesterol. Manufactured by AstraZeneca, Crestor reduces cholesterol levels by blocking the liver from producing bad cholesterol (LDL). Only three months after its approval, three patients in the United States who were taking approved doses of rosuvastatin developed Crestor side effects including kidney failure or muscle damage. The Public Citizen filed a petition to the FDA just months after Crestor’s approval in an effort to prevent Crestor from being sold due to concerns over kidney toxicity. In studies before Crestor’s approval, seven people were struck by cases of rhabdomyolysis. Since the original Public Citizen petition was filed with the FDA in early March, the organization said eleven additional cases of muscle damage, ten of them in the United States, and three additional cases of kidney problems have been reported.

Consumer Group Calls for Crestor Recall

Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, has indicated that the FDA did not go far enough and should have issued an outright ban on the high dose version of Crestor, Lipitor and Zocor, according to a statement made in its Worst Pills, Best Pills newsletter. The consumer group has designated Crestor 80mg as a “Do Not Use” medication, and urged all consumers, including those who had taken Crestor 80 mg without any problem so far, to consider switching to another medication or lower Crestor dosage. However, the organization cautioned that patients should check with their doctors before ending any drug treatment. Patients suffering from the adverse effects fo Crestor are taking legal action and consulting with experienced Crestor lawyers.

Crestor Correlated with Cardiac Arrest

Director of Public Citizen, a public health advocacy group, Sidney Wolfe described it as a "unique toxicity that distinguishes this drug from the other statins". The drug he’s referring to is Crestor. Public Citizen wanted to remove it in March of 2004. There have been several cases of rhabdomyolysis which is the breakdown of muscle fibers resulting in the release of muscle fiber contents into the circulation. Some of these are toxic to the kidney and can result in kidney infection. Related Crestor side effects include cardiac arrest resulting from potassium released form the damaged muscle cells, causing malignant heart rhythms.

Crestor Cardiomyopathy: Heart Problems While Preventing Heart Disease

Many patients begin taking statin or super-statin drugs like Crestor because they are worried about high cholesterol, which can contribute to other conditions such as heart disease. Because of this, it is especially concerning that the drug itself could contribute to a heart condition – called cardiomyopathy, the potentially deadly disease is characterized by weakening of the heart muscles. Other Crestor side effects have been noted and linked to Crestor, including muscle pain and weakness, muscle tenderness, and muscle wasting, also known as myopathy. Rhabdomyolysis is also a serious concern for Crestor users. It is a condition marked by rapid damage to muscle tissue, leading to damaged cells. These cells release a toxin into the bloodstream which has been known to cause kidney damage and kidney failure. Liver damage and diabetes have also been linked to the super-statin.

Crestor Death Rare – But Still Too Frequent

Crestor, also known as rosuvastatin, is considered the most dangerous – and yet most effective – of the “statin” drugs. But is effectivness worth the serious side effects of Crestor? A 20mg dose can reduce bad cholesterol in a patient by 50 to 55 percent, as compared to a 20mg dose of the less potent but similar drug Lipitor, which reduces bad cholesterol by 40 to 45 percent. However, Crestor seems to also bear a much higher risk of side effects than similar drugs.

Pittsburgh Medical Center internist and clinical pharmacologist Matthew F. Muldoon said in 2010 that most clinicians see statin side effects in at least 5 percent of patients and, in some cases, as many as 20 percent. This means that 1 in every 5 patients could be experiencing side effects. Most Crestor side effects are relatively mild – muscle and joint pain is the most common complaint, and is not difficult to treat – but sometimes other conditions manifest that have been linked to the drug, and these are much more serious. These side effects have led to a series of Crestor lawsuits.

Rhabdomyolysis, which is a severe kidney disorder, has been linked to Crestor, as has heart muscle disease, or cardiomyopathy. Although these side effects are rare, they can be particularly deadly, and are linked to Crestor deaths. Crestor is one of the most popular prescription drugs in the United States and because of this a broader range of people may be affected by the side effects associated with it.
There is an ongoing debate in the medical community regarding whether or not Crestor should be pulled from shelves. One argument is that it is the most effective cholesterol-reducing drug on the market today. The opposing side is quick to point out that drugs like Lipitor, while they have a lesser effectiveness, have a similar result and a lower risk for serious side effects.

Crestor death resulting from cardiomyopathy may be able to be prevented if a patient takes supplements that contain Coenzyme Q10, which can replenish the supply of this particular enzyme. Coenzyme Q10 is vital to the heart and seems to be destroyed when Crestor is taken.

It will likely be some time before the Food and Drug Administration initiates a Crestor recall, if it ever happens. Evidence suggests that far more people see the benefits of the medication than the more severe side effects. Even so, alternative medications such as Lipitor or Zocor may be safer.

Cholesterol Reduction Drugs May Lead to Kidney Failure

Astrazeneca has begun to get ready for Crestor lawsuits in the wake of a new study being undertaken by the FDA, which is trying to assess the risks of taking Crestor and its link to muscle injury. Crestor lawsuits allege that Crestor is unsafe. The safety has not only been called into question in Crestor lawsuits. In fact, two major healthcare insurers with over 15 million patients have refused to reimburse for Crestor. While Astraceneca, the parent company of Crestor, did not release specific numbers regarding Crestor sales in the United States nor its profit numbers for the American market, those numbers are likely to fall somewhat as the emerging issues regarding Crestor side effects continues to grow.
Non-profit public interest group Public Citizen claims that Crestor side effects are severe enough to warrant a ban on the drug, and that the FDA should never have approved Crestor in the first place, since at least seven incidences of severe Crestor side effects were reported during the drug's trial phase. The rate of reported kidney problems is about 75 times higher with Crestor than with all other drugs in the same class combined, consumer group Public Citizen said. According to its analysis, there have been 6.4 reports of acute kidney failure or kidney damage for every 1 million Crestor prescriptions filled.
Crestor is the most potent statin on the market since its predecessor, Baycol, was voluntarily removed from shelves in 2001. Some Crestor side effects could prove crippling or even deadly - rhabdomyolysis occurs when a large number of skeletal muscle cells die, resulting in the release of a massive amount of muscle protein into the bloodstream. This leads to the deadliest of Crestor side effects, when the muscle protein becomes trapped in the kidneys, affecting the filtering process of the kidneys and leading to kidney failure. Related Crestor side effects include cardiac arrest resulting from potassium released from the damaged muscle cells, causing malignant heart rhythms. Astrazeneca has made no statement regarding these risks except for the standard warning that goes along with all statins. Potential plaintiffs who have any questions in regards to Crestor litigation and filing a lawsuit of their own should first speak to an experienced Crestor lawyer.