Statins row continues as top surgeon attacks study
ONE of the world’s leading heart surgeons will warn against the routine prescription of statins in a speech to a global health conference.
Professor Sultan said the benefits of statins have been exaggerated
Professor Sherif Sultan, poised to become President of the International Society for Vascular Surgery next month, will use his inaugural address to question the safety of the drugs.
His comments will reignite the row over the widespread use of the cholesterol busting drugs after a report in The Lancet earlier this month “definitively” concluded statins were safe and their side effects exaggerated.
Last night Professor Sultan called on the UK drug regulator to “rewrite” national guidelines, which state even those at low risk of stroke or heart attack should be prescribed the drugs.
Professor Sultan is to tell the conference in New York in November that patients should only be prescribed statins if they had already suffered a heart attack or stroke, and in other circumstances the potential harm was not outweighed by the benefits.
Supporters of statins, which include the British Heart Foundation, say hundreds of thousands of people are putting their lives at risk because they have stopped taking the treatment due to safety fears.
However other experts, including Professor Sultan, say side effects including severe muscle pain, fatigue, kidney damage, diabetes, cataracts and memory loss, have been downplayed.
The drugs are prescribes to those in risk of a heart attack
We need to apologise to patients and agree that statins cause complications
Professor Sultan said the study in The Lancet was unreliable, with much of the data sponsored by drug manufacturers and the raw trial data unavailable for independent scrutiny.
He also said many of the trials in study had excluded people who had shown adverse reactions to statins while they were being recruited.
This had ruled out those who may be more susceptible to side effects. Mr Sultan, Professor of Vascular surgery at the University of Ireland, has won 32 awards for his work in the field of heart health.
Professor Sultan says he does not want to fight with multinationals
He said: “We need to be honest. The benefits of these drugs have been exaggerated. We need to apologise to patients and agree that statins cause complications and may do more harm than good.
"We must rewrite the guidelines for this group.” He added: “I have nothing to gain from saying this.
"I don’t want to fight with multinationals. I just want the best for patients. The best thing to prevent serious heart problems and strokes is a good diet and lifestyle. The world deserves the truth.”
Professor Sultan’s concerns echo those of the queen’s former doctor Sir Richard Thompson.
The former president of the Royal College of Physicians and personal doctor to the Queen for 21 years said: “The statin data needs to be urgently scrutinised.
"We are very worried about it, and particularly the side effect data which seems to have been swept under the carpet.”
Professor Sultan says side effects can include muscle pain and diabetes
However Dr Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, insisted: “This is the first time all of the evidence has been brought together on both safety and benefits into a single publication.”
A spokesman for the government’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said: “The benefits of statins are well established and are considered to outweigh the risk of side effects in the majority of patients.
“They can lower the level of cholesterol in the blood, reduce cardiovascular disease and can save lives.”