BEWARE OF PHARMACEUTICAL FUNDED STATINS TRIALS PROPAGANDA AND PHARMA MARKETING PRESS RELEASES!

BEWARE OF PHARMACEUTICAL FUNDED STATINS TRIALS PROPAGANDA AND PHARMA MARKETING PRESS RELEASES!
10.08.12, 12:59pm

The Statins promotion article in today's Daily Express entitled ' Statins key to a longer life'  is about the Jupiter trial which was funded and sponsored by the manufacturer/marketer to assess the benefits of their drug Crestor (rosuvastatin) The publication of this study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008 pushed sales up. Lead/ author of the Jupiter study was the person quoted in the article is Paul Ridker.

One wonders why this article about a trial started in 2003 is appearing now. It may be because of patients’ voices being heard as they share their suffering on Internet forums and can now report adverse drug reactions (ADRs) themselves to the regulator (MHRA) using the Yellow Card system.

A study which examined data from 34,000 patients in 14 clinical trials was published by the Cochrane Library. This respected independent International reviewer of clinical trials pointed out that the majority of trials had been carried out by the manufacturers who may play down possible risks and that some of the patients had suffered memory loss, depression and mood swings. Previous studies linked liver dysfunction, acute kidney failure, cataracts muscle damage to the use of statins. There is also evidence that lowering cholesterol increases cancer risk.

Patients should not be pressured (as I know some are) to say yes to a drug that could reduce their quality of life and should weigh up the benefit- harm ratio. Those taking statins should be aware of early warning signs of the above possible ADRs.
If you are getting muscle problems which may be rhabdomyolysis, a CreatineKinase test will show if the statin is responsible
Millie Kieve founder of www.april.org.uk

this response was • Posted by: MillieAPRIL today on the Daily Express web site at www.express.co.uk/posts/view/338741