Why I've decided to stop taking Lipitor
Jan/19/2008 02:19 Filed in: Current DTC
I have a family history of high cholesterol but not a family history of heart disease, stroke or other CV diseases. I started taking Lipitor 4 years ago when my cholesterol was above 170 on the advice of my doctor. Today I go to the gym at least 3-4 times a week and do 45 minutes of weights and cardio. I try and watch what I eat and have cut way back on red meat and other high fat foods. When this weeks edition of Business Week arrived in my mailbox there was a side story about statin side effects as reported by a physician, former astronaut and retired family doctor Duane Graveline. Per the article:
In clinical trials of statins, side effects were relatively rare. But many doctors believe they are more common in the real world, afflicting perhaps as many as 15% of patients. After muscle aches, prominently mentioned on Lipitor's label, common complaints include cognitive problems ranging from mild confusion to loss of memory. Duane Graveline says that he "descended into the black pit of amnesia" both times he was put on Lipitor, prompting him to write a book and set up a Web site on statins' side effects.
Then there is the math on Lipitor from Pfizers own label...
The numbers in that sentence mean that for every 100 people in the trial, which lasted 3 1/3 years, three people on placebos and two people on Lipitor had heart attacks. The difference credited to the drug? One fewer heart attack per 100 people. So to spare one person a heart attack, 100 people had to take Lipitor for more than three years. The other 99 got no measurable benefit. Or to put it in terms of a little-known but useful statistic, the number needed to treat (or NNT) for one person to benefit is 100.
Compare that with, say, today's standard antibiotic therapy to eradicate ulcer-causing H. pylori stomach bacteria. The NNT is 1.1. Give the drugs to 11 people, and 10 will be cured.
Why do I feel like I have been had? Because of Pfizer's marketing of Lipitor to physicians? Because I do not have risk factors for CV disease? I'm not sure but for drug companies more educated consumers like myself knowledge can another dangerous sign of things to come.
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