Experts fear thousands may be taking statins without ever seeing benefit

Following recent research undertaken by the National University of Ireland Galway, there are additional concerns about the numbers of people considered eligible for statins, prescribed for cholesterol reduction.

The study concluded that the proportion of patients who could be prescribed the medication in Ireland has spiralled by over 600 per cent in the last thirty years. This comes at the same time that patient numbers being treated for a single heart attack has risen, which suggests that the guidelines are becoming less accurate.

The research looked at how the threshold for prescribing statins has changed over time, and found that twenty two years ago, only eight per cent of the population were eligible for the drugs, and that the numbers had shot up to 61 per cent by 2016, a rise of 663 per cent.

Professor Tim Chico of the University of Sheffield, said “Since pretty much any adult can have a heart attack, particularly as they get older, this means unfortunately most of us would have our risk slightly lowered by statin treatment.

“Unfortunately, we cannot estimate someone’s at risk of a future heart attack very accurately, which means many people in the UK will have a heart attack today who would have been estimated to be at low risk yesterday.”

Professor Jeremy Pearson, associate medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said “There’s no doubt that statins substantially reduce the likelihood of a heart attack in those who are already at risk.

“That’s why threshold guidelines have become wider and more people than ever are now offered the drug.

“When it comes to cost, NICE suggests that both low and high risk individuals being prescribed statins could lead to economic benefit in the long term.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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