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Doctors May Be Underprescribing Statins

By Henry J. Fishman, M.D.
ConsumerAffairs.com

January 5, 2006

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Doctors may actually be prescribing too few statins -- drugs that lower cholesterol, according to a study published online by the journal, Public Library of Medicine.

Researchers examined two national databases that tracked outpatient visits to hospitals from 1992 to 2002, including what drugs were prescribed during the visit.

The researchers found that less than half the patients who were at high risk for heart trouble and should have received a statin got one. The drugs were also underused in moderate risk patients.

While the use of statins has risen in the past decade, the rise is far smaller than it should have been, and the results are troubling.

Heart disease is our No. 1 killer. The number of people at risk has actually gone up in the last decade while the recommendations for cholesterol and LDL levels have gone down.

While diet and exercise help, millions of people need cholesterol-lowering medicines and apparently aren't getting them.

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