Wednesday, September 06, 2006

Polypill: Predicted Here First!


No sooner did I predict new Rx drug pills that combine 3 or more brands into one pill (see "Caduet, Smaduet! Add some wood to the fire!") than I read about the "polypill" in an AP story ("For heart disease, one pill may fit all") appearing in Newsday.

"The so-called 'polypill' would contain aspirin, statins and ACE inhibitors - the three drugs known to prevent recurrent heart disease - and be used to reduce the occurrence of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular health problems, the World Heart Federation said."


Of course, the "polypill" I suggested -- which combines Norvasc (for hypertension), Lipitor (for high cholesterol), and Viagra (for erectile dysfunction, aka ED) -- is much more interesting than adding aspirin to statins and ACE inhibitors! Aspirin's a dime-a-dozen pill and adding it to serious medications is so old! There's absolutely no marketing appeal to it!


According to the AP story: "The polypill would probably be used in patients with a history of heart disease. Proponents say it would be far easier for them to take than multiple pills, possibly leading to more patients following their prescriptions."


O yeah? Well adding Viagra instead of aspirin, I am sure, would undoubtedly increase compliance with the cardiovascular regimen by a much greater factor! For men, anyway!

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous12:19 PM

    Why not add 9 more brand drugs and pretend that they are donuts?

    ReplyDelete

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