FDA Warns on Statins

The Food and Drug Administration raised safety concerns about the popular class of cholesterol-fighting drugs called statins, warning that patients taking the drugs may face a "small increased risk" of higher blood sugar levels and of being diagnosed with diabetes. The FDA is also adding language that memory loss may occur as well. Full story below.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203833004577251392001194250.html

http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/29/fda-warns-statin-users-of-memory-loss-and-diabetes-risks/

Bonnie - if the FDA comes out with a warning on the most popular class of drugs on earth, take heed. Believe me, it took a 500 pound weight of data dropped on their heads to make this announcement.

According to a recent study in Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety, this is how many patients it takes to treat with statins to save one life or prevent one cardiac event:

• All-cause mortality: 28
• Coronary heart disease mortality: 34
• Nonfatal myocardial infarction: 38
• Need for revasculariztion: 24
• Stroke: 58

With the mounting number of side effects, does this seem fair to the patients who will not benefit?