According to The New York Times, the benefits and risks a cholesterol-lowering drug poses are still blurred even though a recent study absolved it of worst safety concerns.

Vytorin, a medicine which is said to lower bad cholesterol in the blood and raise the good one, unites two drugs: a traditional statin and Zetia, another drug used to treat high cholesterol.

The pills brought more than $5 billion of net profit in 2007. However, the number of prescriptions for Vytorin fell by a third on account of the debate over its efficiency at reducing cardiovascular disease and preventing heart attacks. Consequently, patients are advised, at least for the moment, to take advantage of the drug only when safer treatments fail to succeed.

The findings of a study conducted in July reveal that patients who were given Vytorin developed and died of cancer more often than patients who were assigned in a placebo group, Forbes reported. Nonetheless, researchers presented a new analysis by Oxford University's Sir Richard Peto, claiming that there is no convincing evidence of Vytorin and Zethia being connected to an increased risk of cancer. The findings of the SEAS study – the one suggesting a bond between the pills and cancer, as well as the results of the analysis, were published in the Sept. 2 issue of New England Journal.

As maintained by Jeffrey M. Drazen, editor-in-chief of The New England Journal of Medicine, SEAS shows that “there is a potential for a small risk for increased cancer and cancer deaths from Vytorin. Until clinical trials are completed, no one can say this drug is cleared, and no one can say it causes cancer. We have to live with this uncertainty," Drazen concluded.