FDA to consider approval of new class of cholesterol drugs

Washington

A FEDERAL advisory committee this week will decide whether to recommend approval of the first in a new class of drugs that many experts believe could significantly cut the risk of strokes and heart attacks, a leading cause of death for Americans.

The highly anticipated new drugs have been shown in clinical trials to sharply reduce levels of bad, or LDL cholesterol, representing the first major advance in the area since widely used statin drugs hit the market in the late 1980s.

"This is one of the biggest developments in a long time in cardiology," …