MY AFTERNOON PROBLEMS WITH LIPITOR

My recent problem is how to stay alert at my work at 4 p.m. when all the excitements of courts are gone for the day and levels of energy are drained of me, while coffee seems not to help anymore in keeping me from falling asleep. For a long time I thought it has something to do with getting older, but it turned out to be a premature trail. Accidentally though, I have uncovered the real reason of my constant losses with the afternoon slumber: it's my cholesterol medication in the form of atorvastatin, known more widely under the name of lipitor. It seems there are many people online exchanging the problems caused by the usage of statins, of which atorvastatin, the medication invented by Bruce Roth, is the most widely used. Atorvastatin, or Lipitor, was acquired by the company Warner-Lambert, who in 2000 was purchased by Pfizer. Pfizer in 2013 had total assets of $172 billion and total equity of over $76 billion, whereas its 2013 revenues reached the figure of over $51 billion, and net income reached $22 billion. On November 30, 2011, Pfizer's patent expired and Watson Pharmaceuticals and Ranbaxy Laboratories started to produce the generic atorvastatin, but the prices did not fall considerably. Only in May,2012 when other companies started to supply the generic form of the drug, the prices of atorvastatin fell down to the level of $10. Many people suffer from various side effects of atorvastatin, supposedly some people even develop heart attacks or have strokes. Mine problems, at present time, seem to be limited to falling asleep in late afternoon and to headaches, although I have to admit that my liver has been in much better shape before I started to use atorvastatin, more than 10 years ago. I wonder what and when can be done about almost absolute power the big pharmaceutical companies have with respect to approval of new drugs by FDA. How is it that the research of the side effects of the new drugs, by the doctors and scientists on the payroll of the pharmaceutical giants, can decide about the certification of the new drugs by FDA?

Janusz Andrzejewski, an attorney based in New York City, writes on legal and other community important topics. You may contact him through telephone (212-634-4250

or, by e-mail: janusz@januszandrzejewski.com