Pharmacy Daily | NPS on statins

NPS Australia is urging people on statins to continue to taking their medicine as prescribed, in the light of the new label warnings announced by the US Food and Drug Administration earlier this week (TD Tue). The FDA has mandated that the cholesterol-lowering drugs must now carry advice about a small increased risk of diabetes as well as reports of memory problems. NPS spokesperson Karen Kaye said that the risk of developing diabetes with statins is small compared to their benefits for preventing cardiovascular incidents. “Evidence shows that for every 255 people treated with a statin for four years, at least five cardiovascular events are avoided, while there is one extra case of diabetes,” Kaye said. NPS also said that there is not enough evidence to be certain that statins were linked to reports of memory loss and confusion. An NPS study published in the Medical Journal of Australia in Jan found that 30% of Australians aged over 50 had taken medicines to lower cholesterol on the day the survey was taken.

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