Quote:
Professor Collins has requested every single adverse event in all the major studies and plan to publish the first analyses of these data later this year.
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Well, it would be nice if
somebody unbiased actually analyzed all the data on adverse events in all the major studies. Unfortunately Professor Collins is not exactly an independent, unbiased, researcher! He is well established as a statin supporter so one has to wonder just how unbiased his analysis will be. What will he be willing to consider an "adverse event?"
My guess is that many many people who experienced adverse effects (such as severe muscle pain, lethargy, depression and mental fogginess simply dropped out of the studies) and therefore weren't counted as having experienced an "adverse event." If/when they reported such symptoms, their doctors discounted the symptoms as "normal symptoms of an aging population" and unrelated to the drug. I would imagine that one's motivation to keep reporting in to a medical study is likely to fall off if one starts feeling ill one's doctors keep saying that your aches and pains are "normal" and not a result of the medication...especially if you KNOW they're not normal!
So, when Prof Collins reviews the data, will study drop-outs be counted as potential adverse event sufferers? Or will they be ignored completely?
At the very least, the drop-out rates between those in the "intervention arm" of the study (i.e., those receiving statins) and those in the control arm of the study should be carefully compared. And if the drop-out rate is higher in the intervention arm, then ALL the extra drop-outs ought to be counted as potentially having dropped out because of some unreported adverse event.
But you kinda know that, as a proponent of statins, Prof Collins is probably NOT going to do that!
If Collins really wanted to help settle the issue regarding statin safety, seems to me that he would invite Dr. Malhotra or some other "statin denier" to review the data WITH him. And furthermore, the two of them would sit down together BEFORE looking at the data and agree on exactly what criteria determines an "adverse event" and on how to treat the study drop-outs.
Personally, I think the only way to get half-way real numbers would be to try and contact every participant who dropped out of the studies and ASK them why they dropped out. Then, based on the proportion of those contacted who report having dropped out because of some adverse event, assume that the same proportion of uncontactable drop-outs also experienced some sort of adverse event that never got reported in the original data.
But, even if Prof Collins is willing to do that, then there is the second issue. Will drug companies that have kept the raw data from their statin studies under lock and key for a quarter of a century actually turn over ALL data showing potential harm to Prof Collins unless they feel that he is clearly and safely "in their pockets?" I sincerely doubt they would share their data with him if they thought he was going to allow a reputed "statin denier" to look at it.
It seems funny to me that it is fairly widely reported that up to 50% of people who are prescribed a statin, STOP taking the drug within 6 months! Ya gotta wonder, why do so many quit!!! I mean, it's not particularly expensive. You would think if it weren't doing any harm, most people would keep taking the drug on the off-chance that it might do them some good.
I mean, look at how many people continue to take various vitamin supplements year-in and year-out on the off-chance that they might do some good and with the conviction that, at least they aren't doing any harm. Vitamins can be at least as expensive as statins... and aren't covered by insurance.
Do people in general quit taking their other prescribed meds at the same rate as they quit taking statins???
And, how many more people have a statin prescription, pick it up at the pharmacy but then flush it down the toilet rather than taking it; going thru the ruse because they don't want their doctors to write them off as difficult or non-compliant patients. .
Me? I don't care if the "standard of care" does become "everybody over age 75 gets prescribed a statin," I am NOT going to take any statin ever again. No way, no how, never again! And it's not because of Dr Malhotra and some other "statin deniers" has been telling me the the risks of a statin might outweigh the benefits. It is because I experienced - in my own body - that the risks definitely outweighed any possible benefit! And that was almost 20 years ago...before the internet was rife with warnings about statins.
As long as my insurance company doesn't insist that I take a statin or face higher premiums, I'll continue to be honest with my doctor. IF it gets to the point where one has to "be compliant" of face higher insurance premiums, then I'll take the prescription but toss the pills out.