Pfizer Inc. resumed television ads today for the cholesterol pill Lipitor, the world's top-selling drug, six months after stopping commercials with artificial-heart inventor Robert Jarvik that led to a congressional investigation.

The new ads use a California talent agent named John Erlendson, who had a heart attack at age 57 after not taking drugs for his high cholesterol. Pfizer, based in New York, scheduled the commercials to begin airing during ABC's "Good Morning America."

Pfizer halted its last Lipitor advertising campaign in February after a congressional committee began probing whether the ads deceived consumers because Jarvik, who isn't licensed to practice medicine, gave medical advice.

Jarvik was widely credited with inventing the artificial heart but several of his colleagues at the University of Utah have since contested his overall contribution to the medical advancement.

Pfizer is counting on the new ads with a real patient to boost Lipitor prescriptions, which fell 15 percent in the U.S. since the Jarvik ads stopped.

"John is a user of Lipitor who was willing to appear in an ad," said Jim Sage, senior director of Pfizer's Lipitor marketing team. "It is a really unique approach across the industry. John really resonates with the audience because he provides a wake-up call."

Erlendson, 58, was paid an actors' union wage of $1,400 a day during the two to three days the one-minute ad was filmed, Sage said. The commercials, titled "Never Thought," shows Erlendson bicycling near a river and picnicking with his family while an announcer promotes Lipitor's safety and effectiveness. The ads devote 15 seconds to Lipitor's side effects and 45 seconds to benefits.

Won't disclose cost

Pfizer wouldn't say how much it plans to spend on the ads or how frequently they will appear. The company, the world's largest drugmaker, spent $181 million advertising Lipitor last year, making it the fourth-most-advertised drug, according to market research firm Nielsen Monitor-Plus. Pfizer paid Jarvik $1.35 million for the earlier campaign.

Lipitor, Pfizer's most important product, had sales of $12.7 billion last year, about a quarter of the company's revenue. U.S. Lipitor sales have been slipping since 2006, when cheaper copies of a similar cholesterol pill, Merck & Co.'s Zocor, came on the market.

Pfizer shares rose 6 cents, less than a percent, to $19.17 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The company has dropped 16 percent this year.

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