Free Republic

It sounds like an April Fool's joke, but it isn't: A doctor from Imperial College London whose study was published in the American Journal of Cardiology has proclaimed that people who eat burgers and milkshakes at fast food restaurants should be given free statin drugs (like ketchup packets) to counteract the cholesterol effects of eating burgers. "Fast food outlets could provide statin drugs free of charge," says Dr. Darrel Francis, lead author of study, who goes on to complain that statin drugs shouldn't be prescription drugs at all. People should be able to get them as easily as asking for...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is considering whether a drug for a serious chronic condition - high cholesterol - should sit on drugstore shelves alongside medicines for headaches, allergies and athlete's foot. Supporters say making a low-dose cholesterol medicine available without a doctor's prescription would help get needed treatment to millions of Americans who are at risk of heart disease. "There's a huge treatment gap," said Jerry Hansen, vice president of marketing at Johnson & Johnson-Merck Consumer Pharmaceuticals Co., a joint venture that is asking the Food and Drug Administration for permission to sell a low-dose version of Mevacor over...