Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
Proposals to extend the use of statin drugs should be scrapped, a group of leading doctors and academics says.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published draft guidance in February calling for their use to be extended to save more lives.
It could mean another five million people in England and Wales using them on top of seven million who already do.
But in a letter to NICE and ministers, the experts expressed concern about the medicalisation of healthy people.
The letter said the draft advice was overly reliant on industry-sponsored trials, which "grossly underestimate adverse effects".
And it added: "The benefits in a low-risk population do not justify putting approximately five million more people on drugs that will then have to be taken lifelong."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27784711
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published draft guidance in February calling for their use to be extended to save more lives.
It could mean another five million people in England and Wales using them on top of seven million who already do.
But in a letter to NICE and ministers, the experts expressed concern about the medicalisation of healthy people.
The letter said the draft advice was overly reliant on industry-sponsored trials, which "grossly underestimate adverse effects".
And it added: "The benefits in a low-risk population do not justify putting approximately five million more people on drugs that will then have to be taken lifelong."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27784711