Lest we Forget: The Darker Side of the Hypocholesterolemic Statin Drugs
Michael W Whitehouse1★, Desley E Butters1★ Corresponding author
- 1School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast Qld, AUSTRALIA..
CORRESPONDENCE
Michael W Whitehouse
School of Medicine, Griffith University, Gold Coast Qld, AUSTRALIA. .
Volume 8, Issue 1 · pp. 2–7 · PUBLISHED · DOI: 10.5530/pc.2018.1.2
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ABSTRACT
Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs have been over-sold to the medical pro fession and over-prescribed by physicians, without due concern for their long-term disabling side-effects. These include acute renal failure, devel opment of cataracts, diabetes, liver dysfunction and disabling myopathy. Most were predictable and have been well-documented: yet there has been little reduction in statin usage. The situation is made worse by more recent a) claims for off-label efficacy e.g. as anti-inflammatory agents and b) availability in some countries (e.g. UK) as over-the-counter medications. [1] Is it now time to carefully reconsider the need for such over-prescribing, with the promise of yet more to come (OTC availability, the ‘polypill’)?
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Whitehouse, M. W., & Butters, D. E. (). Lest we Forget: The Darker Side of the Hypocholesterolemic Statin Drugs. Pharmacognosy Communications, 8(1), 2–7. https://doi.org/10.5530/pc.2018.1.2