Worried about your ten-year-old’s cholesterol? If that’s the case, worry no more. The European Union approved a deal with the Pfizer company to begin marketing its number one cholesterol drug, Lipitor, in chewable form to children. The drug has was approved in 2002 for children between ages 10 and 17, but this is the first time Pfizer has marketed it in chewable form.
Lipitor, which was primarily taken by patients with heart disease and high cholesterol to lower risk of heart attack and stroke, is a drug designed to lower the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood. Some say this new marketing campaign is due to the fact that Pfizer’s U.S. Patent expires in 2011, and they are searching for more ways to market and earn off the drug before that time comes.
On the other hand, childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, which means more kids than ever are likely to have dangerously high cholesterol. Some children are born with a genetic disorder known as familial hypercholesterolemia, a condition in which the child has high levels of bad cholesterol from birth.
With the recent international family and child health campaigns kicking off, like England’s National Childhood Obesity Week (July 5-11, 2010,) and USA Today’s Family Fitness Challenge, we are definitely gearing up to start battling the problem of childhood obesity and the diseases that result.
So why market high cholesterol drugs to kids when diet changes and exercise have the power shift our kids back into a healthier state? I’m thinking it’s the almighty dollar motivating this campaign. What do you think?