Drugmaker Merck & Co. is suspending its sale of the cholesterol drug Tredaptive and telling doctors to quit prescribing the tablets.
The Whitehouse Station, N.J., company also is advising patients to stop taking the medication only after talking to a physician.
The drug is not approved in the United States, but it is sold in about 40 countries, including Europe. A company spokeswoman said Friday it will take a few months to implement the suspension worldwide.
Merck said last month initial results from a big, late-stage study showed that adding Tredaptive to traditional statin therapy failed to lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and related problems. The drugmaker said then that doctors should stop prescribing Tredaptive to new patients.
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