I was amazed to find two full-page ads for Vytorin in the Beacon Journal recently. I can only imagine the cost, all of which is passed on to the consumer in the form of astronomical prices for medication.

Vytorin, a combination of simvastatin and ezetimbibe, is designed to lower cholesterol. The ad asks, ''Do you have high LDL (bad) cholesterol? It's important to talk to your doctor about ways to lower it.''

So, why the ad blitz? Is there new evidence that lots of lives are being saved by this medication? Fewer heart attacks? Fewer strokes? Hardly.

The ads follow fast and furious on the heels of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed no benefit of the combination drug in reducing plaque.

In fact, in smaller print, you will find in the ad the revealing admission, ''Vytorin has not been shown to reduce heart attacks or strokes more than Zocor (simvastatin) alone.'' Knowing this, consider that on drugstore.com, 30 tablets of simvastatin cost $28 to $33, compared to $101 for Vytorin.

For a 200 percent markup, you get no added health benefit, although your cholesterol numbers may look better. Is it any wonder that we spend more on health care as a percentage of GDP than any other nation? And for what? Sadly, despite the spending, we are no healthier than those in other developed nations spending much less per capita.

Given these facts, why would any intelligent physician prescribe this medication? Is it because industry-tainted guidelines keep pushing for lower and lower cholesterol targets despite a lack of evidence that this is beneficial? Is it because pharmaceutical giants Merck and Schering-Plough, which stand to make billions more dollars if patients are switched to or kept on Vytorin, have duped physicians and their patients? You be the judge.

If you're taking Vytorin, maybe, as the ad suggests, you should be talking more to your physician.

Direct-to-consumer marketing, such as these gaudy two-page ads, is the bait of the pharmaceutical industry. Be a wise consumer and just say no.
Gary T. Giorgio
Wadsworth

All correct

Congratulations on a great article about stem cells (''Stem cells mature,'' April 6). It is great to see a newspaper finally get all the facts correct.
Don Miller
Stow

Charmed lives
of the well-connected

It really is not the economy or the war that got this nation in the fix we're in. It's the wealthy, the well connected. We're ruled by an oligarchy and the military-industrial complex that President Eisenhower warned us about in his last speech to the nation.

The wars are fought by the middle class and the poor. Of the 4,000-plus service people killed in Iraq and the 30,000 wounded, a very small percentage came from wealthy families. How many sons and daughters of millionaire lawmakers will volunteer to go in harm's way? A good example are the five sons of Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusettss and ex-presidential candidate. None will serve. President Bush has two daughters who won't serve.

I was in Korea 57 years ago, and I have a son who has been in the army 21 years. He was in Desert Storm once and has been to Iraq twice. What a price our nation has paid for the misadventures of a corrupt, incompetent administration. W. is beyond a shadow of a doubt the worst president this country has ever had.

We are in debt to China, South Korea and others. We have a $9 trillion debt because of Bush. And in a recession or depression, who suffers? Not the wealthy. They don't care if the price of gas goes to $10 a gallon or food prices double. The wealthy would just say in the words of Marie Antoinette: Let the rabble eat cake.

Well, there are millions of us rabble, and what should we do? We could start by refusing to pay taxes. Just don't file. We could picket our Statehouses and the government in Washington, D.C. We could take the option not to vote. We have an election in November. Suppose no one went to the polls, I think that would send a clear message that we the middle class — what's left of us — and the poor, are fed up with business as usual.
Ron W. Brown
Uniontown

Papal lobby

It was good to see Pope Benedict XVI go before the United Nations to promote full human rights for all people. I look forward to the day that the church he leads will extend full human rights to women and homosexual people. I always feel that actions speak louder than words.
Thomas J. Reke
Akron

Here a racist,
there a racist . . .

In response to Anne Layton's hysterical letter on March 11 (''What planet are these people from?''): I would like to say she wouldn't know what a racist was, much less hate speech, if it came up and bit her. Far too many people get too emotional over imagined racism. People like Layton, while well meaning I'm sure, actually defeat their purpose by living in a state of politically correct denial.

According to Layton and people like her, if one makes a true statement that reflects in a negative manner on any minority, especially blacks, then that is a racist statement or hate speech.

If I said I don't like to watch The Jeffersons or Sanford and Son or I don't like Aunt Jemimah pancakes, does that make me a racist? Is that hate speech? Never mind that maybe I just don't like the show or pancakes and that color has nothing to do with it. How silly. (For the record, I do like those shows and pancakes, too.)

If a teacher gives a black student an F on a test, is the teacher a racist? Never mind that the student simply failed the test for whatever reason. If a person says that the majority of street crime in Akron is committed by young, black male urban thugs, is that person a racist? Never mind that it is the truth.

If Layton is an educated person as she claimed in her letter, then she should be able to see past the political correctness, drama and hysteria and focus on the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it makes her.

I would suggest she look up the definitions of words and phrases such as ''hate speech,'' ''bigotry,'' ''enmity,'' ''racist'' and ''racism'' and know what they really mean before she throws them around like so much confetti.
David Schrader
Akron