STATIN WARNING: Patients ‘used as guinea pigs’ - shock claim from experts

'Patients prescribed statins are being used as unwitting “guinea pigs” because the side effects have not been properly investigated say experts.

Cardiologist Aseem Malhotra told a conference that doctors were unwittingly practising “unethical medicine” by prescribing statins which he said offered little or no benefit to patients at low risk of heart disease.

He also claimed patients were not being told the true benefits and harms of the cholesterol lowering drug. His comments have fuelled the debate surrounding the group of medicines, the most widely prescribed treatment in the UK given to up to 12 million patients, or around one in four adults.

Use of the drugs fiercely divides medical opinion with proponents arguing the benefits in reducing the risk of heart attacks and stroke far outweigh the risk of side effects which include severe muscle pain, impotence, cataracts, mental impairment, diabetes, fatigue and liver dysfunction.'