Lipid-lowering: can ezetimibe help close the treatment gap?

Most patients who should be on lipid-lowering therapy are not receiving it, and most patients who are receiving it are not reaching their appropriate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) goals. This is in part because physicians and patients fear side effects of statins and other lipid-lowering agents. Ezetimibe (Zetia), a new lipid-lowering drug, may help physicians close this "treatment gap" in more patients, especially in combination with a statin.