Forum: Subsidise cholesterol drug - a last-resort treatment for some

Boxes of Abbott's heart stents. PHOTO: REUTERS

Dr Quek Koh Choon wrote about the reluctance of patients to take statins due to false reports on the Internet (Heart patients refusing to take statins a troubling trend, Nov 30).

While it may be true that statins can help to lower unhealthy lipids and hopefully lower the risk of heart attacks and deaths, not everyone can be treated with statins.

I would like to highlight cases of those suffering from familial hyperlipidemia, where even the maximum safe dosage and combinations fail to bring cholesterol levels down to a normal level.

There is a fairly new drug in the market, a self-injection drug called Praluent, which can bring abnormal levels of lipids down to fairly normal levels within three months, when all else fails.

I have tried this medication, thanks to my doctor at the Singapore General Hospital, who gave me free samples, and it has brought my lipids down from very high levels to near normal.

Unfortunately, the cost of $281 per injection deters me from continuing. Could the Government consider subsiding this drug so that patients need not resort to stents later?

Chew Chee Weng

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 06, 2019, with the headline Forum: Subsidise cholesterol drug - a last-resort treatment for some. Subscribe