Statins Possibly More Cost-Effective Than Initially Thought

In the large, partly industry-funded placebo-controlled Heart Protection Study, simvastatin was shown to be both clinically beneficial and cost-effective during the 5-year treatment period in a wide range of patients. Now, the investigators report that lifetime use of statins can be cost-effective in an even wider range of people.

Investigators estimated life expectancy and costs associated with lifetime treatment with simvastatin (40 mg/day) among 20,000 participants from the U.K. (age range, 40–80 years; 70% male) who had total cholesterol levels of at least 135 mg/dL and histories of vascular disease or diabetes. The estimated life years gained ranged from 2.49 years (for people aged 40–49 whose 5-year risk for a major vascular event at s…