Generic Mevacor

What it is used for

INDICATIONS AND USAGE Therapy with Lovastatin Tablets USP should be a component of multiple risk factor intervention in those individuals with dyslipidemia at risk for atherosclerotic vascular disease. Lovastatin Tablets USP should be used in addition to a diet restricted in saturated fat and cholesterol as part of a treatment strategy to lower total-C and LDL-C to target levels when the response to diet and other nonpharmacological measures alone has been inadequate to reduce risk. Primary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease In individuals without symptomatic cardiovascular disease, average to moderately elevated total-C and LDL-C, and below average HDL-C, Lovastatin Tablets USP are indicated to reduce the risk of: - Myocardial infarction - Unstable angina - Coronary revascularization procedures (See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY , Clinical Studies in Adults .) Coronary Heart Disease Lovastatin Tablets USP are indicated to slow the progression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with coronary heart disease as part of a treatment strategy to lower total-C and LDL-C to target levels. Hypercholesterolemia Therapy with lipid-altering agents should be a component of multiple risk factor i

How it is taken

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION The patient should be placed on a standard cholesterol-lowering diet before receiving lovastatin tablets and should continue on this diet during treatment with lovastatin tablets (see NCEP Treatment Guidelines for details on dietary therapy). Lovastatin tablets should be given with meals. Adult Patients The usual recommended starting dose is 20 mg once a day given with the evening meal. The recommended dosing range of lovastatin is 10 to 80 mg/day in single or two divided doses; the maximum recommended dose is 80 mg/day. Doses should be individualized according to the recommended goal of therapy (see NCEP Treatment Guidelines and CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY ). Patients requiring reductions in LDL-C of 20% or more to achieve their goal (see INDICATIONS AND USAGE ) should be started on 20 mg/day of lovastatin tablets. A starting dose of 10 mg of lovastatin may be considered for patients requiring smaller reductions. Adjustments should be made at intervals of 4 weeks or more. Cholesterol levels should be monitored periodically and consideration should be given to reducing the dosage of lovastatin tablets if cholesterol levels fall significantly below the targeted r

Warnings

WARNINGS Myopathy/Rhabdomyolysis Lovastatin, like other inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase, occasionally causes myopathy manifested as muscle pain, tenderness or weakness with creatine kinase (CK) above ten times the upper limit of normal (ULN). Myopathy sometimes takes the form of rhabdomyolysis with or without acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria, and rare fatalities have occurred. The risk of myopathy is increased by high levels of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory activity in plasma. The risk of myopathy/rhabdomyolysis is dose related. In a clinical study (EXCEL) in which patients were carefully monitored and some interacting drugs were excluded, there was one case of myopathy among 4933 patients randomized to lovastatin 20 to 40 mg daily for 48 weeks, and 4 among 1649 patients randomized to 80 mg daily. There have been rare reports of immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), an autoimmune myopathy, associated with statin use. IMNM is characterized by: proximal muscle weakness and elevated serum creatine kinase, which persist despite discontinuation of statin treatment; muscle biopsy showing necrotizing myopathy without significant inflammation; improvement with immunosup

Source: openFDA / DailyMed. Provided for information only — always follow the directions given by your own prescriber.