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The American Heart Association has issued a “Scientific Statement” titled “Statin Safety and Associated Adverse Events,” which is a comprehensive overview based on data from both randomized and observational studies. The authors focus considerable attention on muscle symptoms: They estimate that myopathy — if defined as muscle symptoms plus creatine kinase (CK) levels at least 10 times the upper limit of normal — occurs in fewer than 1 per 1000 patients who are receiving maximally recommended doses of statins; they also estimate that severe myopathy (rhabdomyolysis) occurs in about 1 per 10,000 patients. The incidence of less-severe muscle symptoms (myalgias with or without mild increases in CK level) is difficult to estimate, given that my…