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Reporting Rate For Kidney Damage Is 75 Times Higher With Crestor (Rosuvastatin)

Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter article December, 2004

In a letter sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 29, 2004, Public Citizen again urged the immediate withdrawal of the uniquely dangerous cholesterol lowering statin drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) from the market.

The letter was prompted by a new Public Citizen analysis of adverse drug reaction reports to the FDA. The analysis found that the rate of reports of kidney failure or damage among patients taking Crestor is 75 times higher than in all patients taking all other...

In a letter sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on October 29, 2004, Public Citizen again urged the immediate withdrawal of the uniquely dangerous cholesterol lowering statin drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) from the market.

The letter was prompted by a new Public Citizen analysis of adverse drug reaction reports to the FDA. The analysis found that the rate of reports of kidney failure or damage among patients taking Crestor is 75 times higher than in all patients taking all other statin drugs.

The new analysis also found the reporting rate for rhabdomyolysis (severe muscle deterioration) approached that of Baycol (cerivastatin), which was taken off the market in August 2001 because of rhabdomyolysis.

Public Citizen originally petitioned the FDA on March 4, 2004 to have Crestor removed from the market.