One in four Americans takes cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. They work but often cause painful side effects. Primarily muscle pain. Jack Manley says he could barely walk when he was on the medication. It was very discomforting. Yeah it was constant like leg cramps. Now a new study in today's New England Journal of Medicine is reporting that an experimental medication called bempedoic acid taken along with a statin, reduced cholesterol by 18 percent.
This medicine could help a lot of people. Many people can't take a high dose of a powerful statin, so particularly we use combinations. Two medications, sometimes lower doses, to get the same effect. Jack took the drug along with his low dose statin as part of a clinical trial. His cholesterol is now down nearly 100 points and he says he's feeling better than ever. I want to be able to enjoy my grandchildren, so it's very important. The drug is now under FDA review and could be approved early next year. It's expected to cost thirty five hundred a year.