Drugs in Class Action Litigation: Crestor

Generic name: rosuvastatin calcium (drugs known as “statins")

Manufactured and marketed by: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

Purpose: To treat patients suffering from high levels of cholesterol, which can lead to heart disease and other cardiovascular problems. Statins are prescribed in order to lower these high cholesterol levels.

Side Effects Reported

• The common side effects of taking Crestor may include abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, weakness and muscle pain.
• Crestor may be linked to much more harmful side effects including muscle, liver and kidney damage. Similarly to other drugs in the class known as statins, some takers of Crestor have developed severe muscle damage and a condition called rhabdomyolysis.
• Rhabdomyolysis involves the breaking down of muscle tissue, which can release high levels of chemicals into the bloodstream.
• This condition could lead to kidney failure and is potentially fatal. In 2001, another statin drug known as Baycol, was removed from the market after it had been linked to a significant number of deaths resulting from rhabdomyolysis.

Industry Report

The labeling of Crestor has been changed to reflect findings from a study that found that the amount of rosuvastatin (Crestor) found in the blood of Asian patients was twice as high as the amount found in the blood of Caucasian patients involved in the same study. Physicians have been advised to initially prescribe lower doses of Crestor to Asian patients, as well as elderly patients and those patients whom already have renal problems or that are taking cyclosporine, in order to reduce the chances of damaging side effects from Crestor.

A study published in 2004 by the American Heart Association's Journal, Circulation, Crestor was found to be approximately two to six times more likely to cause negative side effects over a one-year period as some of the other statins available on the market. These findings were based upon the number of side effects that had been reported to the FDA. The reporting of side effects of Crestor in its first year on the market included a much higher rate of serious side effects such as rhabdomyolysis and kidney damage than other statins on the market.

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