Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[DeepBreath]

Letter to the Editor NYTimes:
Heart disease is complex. Inflammation, metabolic disorders, genetics and lipid disorders play a role in its development and progression. In treating heart disease, “population medicine” is not the answer; individualized treatments are needed.

Given that 50 percent of patients who have a heart attack or a stroke have normal LDL cholesterol, it’s clear that increasing the use of statins alone will not produce the positive clinical outcomes we are looking for. Furthermore, studies have shown that more than 50 percent of patients stop taking their statins in the first year.

The new guidelines provide excellent lifestyle recommendations, but do not provide adequate guidance with regard to targets of therapy, treatment of patients under age 40 or over 75 years, or how to manage the many statin-intolerant patients whom physicians encounter on a daily basis.

ERNST J. SCHAEFER
Chief Medical Officer
Boston Heart Diagnostics
Framingham, Mass., Nov. 19, 2013