Discontinuation of statins

Discontinuation of statins

Most patients who stop statins due to side effects will tolerate the drugs if rechallenged, according to the findings of a new study. In a retrospective cohort study using data from two Boston hospitals, researchers reviewed the records of nearly 108,000 patients on statins and found statin-related events such as muscle pain documented in 18,778 (17.4%). Of those patients, 11,124 stopped the drugs at least temporarily and 6579 were restarted within the subsequent 12 months. The vast majority of patients restarted on a statin tolerated the drug (92.2%), although about half were eventually switched to a different statin. The authors conclude that statin-related side effects are common and often lead to discontinuation; however, most patients who are rechallenged can tolerate statins long-term. They suggest that "statin-related events may have other causes, are tolerable, or may be specific to individual statins rather than the entire drug class" (Ann Intern Med 2013;158:526-534).