A new report finds that a popular cholesterol drug used by millions of patients may not be as effective as once thought.

According to the study, doctors are now urging patients to stick with older medications instead of the newer, more popular Vytorin. Dr. Samuel Suede, an Englewood cardiologist, says Vytorin, a drug made up of two other popular cholesterol drugs, was thought to quickly break down plaque in the arteries. However, Suede says according to the study, the drug has no proven benefit.

?The reports today are talking about whether Vytorin, a combination of Zocor and Zetia, are better than Zocor alone. This study was a negative study. It showed that the combination therapy was no better,? Suede says.Suede has been putting his patients on older drugs called statins and only uses Vytorin and Zetia as last resorts.

A larger study to see if Vytorin will reduce the risk of heart attack and death is under way. The results won?t be completed until 2012.

Vytorin Merck/Schering-Plough