How You’ve Been Misled About Statins
Analysis by Dr. Joseph MercolaFact Checked
STORY AT-A-GLANCE
- More than 35 million Americans are on a statin drug, making it one of the most commonly prescribed medicines in the U.S. Lipitor — which is just one of several brand name statin drugs — is one of the most profitable drugs in the history of medicine
- The “statin empire” is built on prescribing these drugs to people who really don’t need them and are likely to suffer side effects without getting any benefits
- By simply revising the definition of “high cholesterol,” which was done in 2000 and again in 2004 in the U.S., millions of people became eligible for statin treatment, without any evidence whatsoever that it would actually benefit them
- In 2013, the American College of Cardiology and AHA revised their statin guideline to include a CVD risk calculation rather than a single cholesterol number. This resulted in another 12.8 million Americans being put on statin treatment even though they didn’t have any real risk factors for CVD
- Industry-biased research, the hiding of raw study data, deceptive statistical tricks, silencing of dissenters, censoring of critics and the use of fear-based PR are other strategies employed to manipulate public opinion and doctors to keep prescribing statins to an ever-widening population base
Unorthodox Truth 