People with heart disease who took a drug called evolocumab had more heart-related deaths than those who took a dummy pill, according to a reanalysis of a major study — but the difference wasn’t quite strong enough to rule out chance.

80

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

80

Community contributions welcome

80

Restoring mortality data in the FOURIER cardiovascular outcomes trial of evolocumab in patients with cardiovascular disease: a reanalysis based on regulatory data

Cross-Sectional Study

Human

2022 Dec 30

The study looked at the same drug and patients as the claim and found more heart-related deaths in the treatment group, just like the claim says.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Restoring mortality data in the FOURIER cardiovascular outcomes trial of evolocumab in patients with cardiovascular disease: a reanalysis based on regulatory data

Score: 80

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-060172

Similar Assertions

People taking a cholesterol drug called evolocumab had almost twice as many heart failure deaths as those on a dummy pill in one big study, but this wasn’t mentioned in the main report—so scientists are wondering if the drug might actually harm the heart in some ways.

80

0

86%

For people with heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering drugs but still have high bad cholesterol, adding a drug called evolocumab can cut their risk of heart attack, stroke, or dying from heart problems by 20% over about two years.

74

0

81%

Taking a drug called evolocumab can lower the chance of having a first major heart problem by 25% in people at high risk who’ve never had a heart attack or stroke before.

100

80

78%

For people with clogged arteries who are already taking cholesterol drugs, adding a medicine called evolocumab can help lower their chance of having a stroke.

74

0

78%

These cholesterol drugs can cut bad cholesterol by half and help prevent heart attacks in people with heart disease, and they’re about as safe as a dummy shot—though some might get a little redness where they’re injected.

1

0

77%