In Brief: Prescription fish oil
In Brief
With all of the over-the-counter fish oil that's for sale, why is there a prescription product? The FDA approved Omacor in 2004 to be used in conjunction with diet for treatment of high triglyceride levels (500 mg/dL or more). Fish oil is famed for its omega-3 fats, but in its natural state it's a mixture of other fats — including quite a bit of saturated fat — and triglycerides. The fish oil used to make Omacor has been chemically processed and purified so that it's close to being pure omega-3s (about 900 milligrams in total), although there's some vitamin E in there as an inactive ingredient.
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