negative side effects of lipitor

A:I was unable to find a recent report of deaths associated with Lipitor. I have included a link to the London Times that was reported on 03/06/05 discussing deaths associated with lipid medications in general. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1512613_1,00.html There seems to be a lot of hysteria associated with lipid-lowering medications commonly referred to as 'statins' of which Lipitor or atorvastatin is one. The main complication associated with these medications is a degenerative muscle condition called rhabdomyolysis - though actual cases of this is extremely rare. The main reason people discontinue cholesterol medications is due to general muscle aches - despite no objective lab studies to indicate a problem. It is known that these cholesterol medications can affect the mitochodria (powerhouses of the cell) in some people. It is surmised that this effect is the source of muscle aches - though muscle aches are a common general complaint. Additionally there may be interactions with other medications at the level of the liver enzyme pathways. So why do people are people prescribed these medications if there are risks? The answer is the overall significant reduction in mortality - especially noted in people who at risk for coronary artery disease, heart valvular disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. The risk reduction of dying from these diseases far outweighs the increase risk of taking the medications. I have attached a few abstracts of medical journals below that are pertinent to your question and my answer. I hope this helps. Good luck. There were 871 reports of statin-associated rhabdomyolysis in the 29-month time frame examined, representing 601 cases. The following number of cases were associated with each of the individual statins: simvastatin, 215 (35.8%); cerivastatin, 192 (31.9%); atorvastatin, 73 (12.2%); pravastatin, 71 (11.8%); lovastatin, 40 (6.7%); and fluvastatin, 10 (1.7%). Drugs that may have interacted with the statins were present in the following number of cases: mibefradil (n = 99), fibrates (n = 80), cyclosporine (n = 51), macrolide antibiotics (n = 42), warfarin (n = 33), digoxin (n = 26), and azole antifungals (n = 12). The reports of 62.1% of cases were classified as expedited. Statins were designated as the primary suspect in 72.0% of the cases. Death was listed as the outcome in 38 cases. The majority of reports (n = 556) were from health professionals. Ann Pharmacother. 2002 Feb;36(2):288-95 Lowering of LDL-cholesterol by 25 to 30% with statins resulted in a highly significant reduction of coronary event rates in 2 large primary prevention trials. In the West of Scotland Primary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS) hypercholesterolemic asymptomatic men were treated with either 40 mg of pravastatin or placebo, in the Airforce/Texas Coronary Atherosclerosis Prevention Study (AFCAPS/TexCAPS) 6605 men and women with average levels of LDL-cholesterol and low levels of HDL-cholesterol were treated with either 20 to 40 mg of lovastatin or placebo. Moreover, in the WOSCOP study a marked reduction of total mortality was observed which approached the level of statistical significance. Several groups of experts have recently developed guidelines for the use of statins in prevention of atherosclerotic vascular disease. There are major differences in the goals for lowering of LDL-cholesterol and in the levels at which initiation of lipid lowering by drugs is advocated. In most of these recommendations graded target levels for LDL-cholesterol are suggested which are guided by the level of global risk. According to the recommendations of the American National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) LDL-cholesterol should be lowered below 130 mg/dl in asymptomatic individuals at high absolute risk and below 160 in individuals with a moderate increase in risk. The Joint Task Force of European and other Societies on Coronary Prevention recently developed guidelines, which suggest that in primary prevention lipid lowering by drugs should be restricted to individuals whose 10 year CHD risk exceeds 20% or will exceed 20% if projected to age 60. In these individuals LDL-cholesterol levels should be lowered to less than 115 mg/dl. The International Task Force for Prevention of Coronary heart disease recently published recommendations which suggest, that LDL-cholesterol should be reduced below 100 mg/dl in asymptomatic individuals at very high coronary risk, while it should be lowered below 135 mg/dl in individuals at moderately increased risk and below 160 mg/dl in subjects with a small increase in risk. In conclusion, results of 2 landmark trials in primary prevention of coronary heart disease demonstrated that lowering of LDL-cholesterol by statins is one of the most effective strategies to reduce coronary risk. It should be applied most aggressively in subjects at the highest overall risk. Nevertheless, non-pharmacologic measures are still considered as the preferred strategy for the reduction of coronary risk in the setting of primary prevention. Wien Med Wochenschr. 1999;149(5-6):129-38 A total of 289 (23.7%) patients in the atorvastatin group compared with 333 (27.7%) patients in the usual care group experienced a primary outcome (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% confidence interval 0.71 to 0.97, p = 0.02). This reduction in morbidity was largely due to fewer non-fatal myocardial infarctions (4.3% vs. 7.7%, p = 0.0002). Levels of LDL-C were reduced more (34.3% vs. 23.3%, p < 0.0001) and National Cholesterol Education Program goals (LDL-C <100 mg/dl) more likely met at end-of-study visits (72.4% vs. 40.0%) in patients receiving atorvastatin compared with those receiving usual care An aggressive, focused statin therapy management strategy outperformed usual care in health maintenance organization and Veterans Administration clinic patients with Coronary Heart Disease. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2004 Nov 2;44(9):1772-9