Other side effects of statins include high blood sugar or even diabetes, cataracts, nerve pain and even ALS. Now some supermarket chains in the United States (Wegmans and Meijer) are offering free generic Lipitor (atorvastatin) to shoppers with prescriptions for this statin. People may be unable to resist this offer because Lipitor costs more than $100 month. One wonders to what limits drug companies will go to market their medications. Patients should be informed about where the generic atorvastatin comes from and what kinds of side effects this medicine might cause them. The following article is about the increased risk of kidney injury or failure from taking "high dose" or "high potency" statins.
Doctors continue to prescribe statins as "primary prevention". A recent study undertaken at the University of Michigan and published in the JAMA Internal Medicine, online, March 11, 2013, suggests that many people who get prescriptions for these drugs will not really benefit from them. Research has shown that medicines like atorvastatin and simvastatin can reduce the chance of a repeat heart attack. It is not clear that they prevent initial heart attacks in otherwise healthy people who simply have high cholesterol. Nonetheless, it seems that many people taking statins are in that category.
What Dr. Michel Logeril, who wrote a book on statins (in French), says may well turn out to be true: "The cholesterol issue is an enormous business which has all the appearances of being the most extraordinary medical and scientific scam ever perpetrated". What is equally shocking is that doctors are irresponsibly prescribing this medication to people who don't really need it, including children, without heeding the warnings of health authorities or their patients' complaints of side effects. People are also irresponsible, in not knowing enough to inform themselves and challenge their doctors' treatment decisions.
Another Serious Statin Side Effect!
People’s Pharmacy, 21 March 2013
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