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THE British Medical Journal has called for a new and independent review of statins.
It fears the drugs are linked to side-effects including muscle pain, cataracts, liver dysfunction, diabetes, fatigue and memory loss.
This month the Sunday Express revealed that statins have been linked to almost 20,000 reports of side-effects and 227 deaths.
Doctors are recommended to prescribe statins for anyone with a 10 per cent risk of heart disease within a decade.
Up to 12 million are routinely given the drug.
But critics say much of the trials data has never been made public and work is needed to ensure routine prescribing is not doing harm.
BMJ editor Fiona Godlee said yesterday: “The information on sideeffects has been seen only by the drug companies and the people who did the trials.
"We are asking for independent eyes to look at all the data on statins because this is such a widely used drug and for many people with a low risk of heart disease these drugs may be causing more harm than benefit. This analysis has to be completely independent.”
Klim McPherson, a professor in public health at Oxford University who suffered severe pains while taking statins, welcomed the call.
He said: “We do not have properly measured trials… and these are not available for public scrutiny.”
Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP and author in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said: “It is an utter scandal that the side-effect data is hidden from the public.”
The Oxford academic whose findings helped rubber-stamp statins’ mass prescription has announced he will carry out further checks.
However, the BMJ stated Professor Rory Collins could not be considered independent because he was on the trials team.
It concluded: “How can it be right to recommend mass treatment of healthy people without independent review? The statins trialists can take the lead on transparency or be pulled kicking and screaming into the light.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/593833/New-calls-review-statin-danger
BMJ article here: http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3908
It fears the drugs are linked to side-effects including muscle pain, cataracts, liver dysfunction, diabetes, fatigue and memory loss.
This month the Sunday Express revealed that statins have been linked to almost 20,000 reports of side-effects and 227 deaths.
Doctors are recommended to prescribe statins for anyone with a 10 per cent risk of heart disease within a decade.
Up to 12 million are routinely given the drug.
But critics say much of the trials data has never been made public and work is needed to ensure routine prescribing is not doing harm.
BMJ editor Fiona Godlee said yesterday: “The information on sideeffects has been seen only by the drug companies and the people who did the trials.
"We are asking for independent eyes to look at all the data on statins because this is such a widely used drug and for many people with a low risk of heart disease these drugs may be causing more harm than benefit. This analysis has to be completely independent.”
Klim McPherson, a professor in public health at Oxford University who suffered severe pains while taking statins, welcomed the call.
He said: “We do not have properly measured trials… and these are not available for public scrutiny.”
Dr Malcolm Kendrick, a GP and author in Macclesfield, Cheshire, said: “It is an utter scandal that the side-effect data is hidden from the public.”
The Oxford academic whose findings helped rubber-stamp statins’ mass prescription has announced he will carry out further checks.
However, the BMJ stated Professor Rory Collins could not be considered independent because he was on the trials team.
It concluded: “How can it be right to recommend mass treatment of healthy people without independent review? The statins trialists can take the lead on transparency or be pulled kicking and screaming into the light.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/593833/New-calls-review-statin-danger
BMJ article here: http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3908
