A promising new medicine against heart disease fails unexpectedly

Doctors expected an experimental drug that lowers a common risk factor for heart attacks would save patients' lives. The medicine made no difference.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3200x1900+0+0/resize/3200x1900!/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2f%2F66%2Fb8a0e1394fe0939c06d94bd754be%2Fgettyimages-1159313378.jpg' alt='undefined'/><p>Doctors expected an experimental drug that lowers a common risk factor for heart attacks would save patients' lives. The medicine made no difference.</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-6026379' />