Federal regulators have granted AstraZeneca approval to market its cholesterol pill Crestor as a preventive measure against heart attack and stroke in patients with healthy cholesterol levels. The Food and Drug Administration decision will allow the company to promote Crestor to millions of U.S. patients who traditionally have not been candidates for cholesterol-lowering drugs. The agency posted a briefing ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Encouraging more patients to continue taking their prescribed cholesterol drugs would stave off twice as many stroke and heart attack deaths as giving the drugs to a wider range of people, scientists said on Tuesday. A study by British researchers suggested that rather than widening the pool of patients, as recommended by U.S. government health advisers for ...

Federal health advisers said Tuesday that expanded use of AstraZeneca's cholesterol pill Crestor can benefit patients with healthy cholesterol levels by preventing heart attack, stroke and death. A Food and Drug Administration panel of experts voted 12-4 with one abstention that Crestor's benefits outweigh its risks in patients with normal cholesterol and no history of heart disease, setting ...

GAITHERSBURG, Maryland (Reuters) - AstraZeneca won a U.S. panel's support on Tuesday for its bid to promote the cholesterol-lowering pill Crestor to people with healthy cholesterol levels but have other risks of heart disease. The endorsement moves the company closer to winning U.S. approval to sell Crestor in a vast new market with potentially millions of new patients ...