| Doctors have been encouraged to prescribe the | | | | These claims are based on trials of the drug |
| cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins | | | | on a carefully screened group of people, |
| quite liberally. Patients who suffer heart | | | | hardly a representative selection of the |
| attacks often have elevated levels of | | | | general public. Considering the rigorous |
| cholesterol, so statins like Lipitor are | | | | selection process for drug trials, it is |
| prescribed to lower the cholesterol. There | | | | hardly a surprise that 51% of prescription |
| have been no conclusive studies to prove the | | | | drugs found to have serious adverse side |
| full effectiveness of these drugs, however, | | | | effects not detected prior to FDA approval.As |
| and some doctors worry that reducing | | | | many as 98% of people using Lipitor or |
| cholesterol simply takes away the warning | | | | similar statin drugs experience muscle |
| signs of heart disease. The drug companies | | | | weakness. This is because the statins break |
| also claim that statin drugs have a low, | | | | down muscle tissue. |
| nearly nonexistent incidence of side effects. | | | | |