Big Pharma's statin monster looking to grow

Our old friends at Big Pharma are at it again – trying to get more people to take a drug they don't need, for something it wasn't even made for.

Millions of Americans are already taking statins to help manage their cholesterol. The drugs are already unnecessary for most people, because cholesterol can be controlled through your diet. It's that simple, and I can show you how.

But that's beside the point for now, because the newest plan to get even more people on statins has nothing to do with cholesterol management.

Now, Big Pharma wants you to take them for a completely different purpose altogether.

They're pointing to a new study, called JUPITER, which shows that statins can help lower levels of C-Reactive Protein, or CRP, in people with normal LDL cholesterol.

High levels of CRP could be one indicator of inflammation in the arteries, which could lead to heart attacks.

The problem is, no one can tell you just how reliable CRP levels are as an indicator of heart disease risk, because no one knows for sure.

But they want you to take those statins anyway. They have their eyes on one number right now, and it has nothing to do with LDL or CRP levels. That number is 11 million – the estimated number of new patients who could start taking statins for their CRP levels.

Statins are the industry's favorite kind of drug. They don't heal or cure, and they don't treat the underlying causes. They simply "manage" the condition. In this case, "manage" is a codeword for a drug that you need to keep on taking if you want to keep getting the benefit.

The result: A drug people need to take forever. You can't even imagine how happy that makes some people who wear very expensive suits.

Here's one other truth about statins that Big Pharma can't hide: Patients without a history of heart disease don't live a single second longer when they take statins to control their cholesterol. This has been confirmed in study after study after study.

It's just one more case of the wrong drug, for the wrong people, for all the wrong reasons.

Be well,

Dr. William B. Ferril
House Calls

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