Merck may have a new drug that could make surgery to clear cholestorol from around the heart unnecessary. “In the trial, the Merck drug caused a remarkable 138% increase in good cholesterol, pushing people up into supernormal levels above 100. A typical level is more like 50 or 60. “It is just off the charts HDL levels,” said Harvard’s Christopher Cannon, a cardiologist at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Lots of people are trying to work on raising good cholesterol, but this drug is way more potent than anything we have seen.”