Off the Market

"Out of an abundance of caution," read the letter from Cincinnati's Wm. S. Merrell Co. to 230,000 U.S. physicians, "we have determined that the sale of tripara-nol should be discontinued until all possible controversy is put to rest." Thus last week almost half a million patients learned that they could no longer hope to cut down the cholesterol circulating in their blood -- and perhaps reduce the danger of heart attacks -- simply by swallowing a daily 35^ triparanol capsule.

Triparanol (trade name: MER/29) was marketed two years ago with only a background rumble of misgivings (TIME, June 6, 1960). The drug had produced no serious side effects in the first 2,000 patients treated experimentally. But the more it was used, the more reports suggested that it might be a bad actor. At least four patients are said to have developed cataracts while being treated by the drug.

Merrell has admitted many cases of baldness, change of hair color and loss of body hair. Skin reactions ranged from dryness and itching to peeling and development of a fish-scale texture. In a few cases, triparanol was suspected of cutting down the body's protective white blood cells.

Though it was perhaps the most widely used, triparanol was only one of several drugs recently taken off the market. The incident underscored a warning by a committee of doctors in their outspoken Medical Letter on new drugs: "Statements that a new drug has few, mild or no side effects should be ignored."

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