Food And Drug muscle injury to Zocor

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration added new warnings for cholesterol blockbuster Zocor against doctors warn that the higher dose of the drug can cause muscle damage and potentially fatal kidney damage in rare cases.

Regulators say that patients who received a dose of 80 milligrams of Zocor have a higher risk of muscle damage in patients taking low doses of drugs or similar drugs.

The dose of 80 mg should be continued only in patients who took more than a year without signs of injury. The agency says that new patients should start with a lower dose, the agency said in a statement online.

Over 2.1 million patients in the United States received a prescription for the last year or the generic equivalent of Zocor, the FDA said.