Stopping Statin Use After Adverse Events Increases Mortality, Cardiovascular Risk

Patients who discontinue statin use following presumed adverse reactions are at a greater risk of cardiovascular events and death, according to the results of a recent study.

Although it is common for patients to stop using statins after experiencing potential adverse events, the risks and benefits of continued statin use in this situation are not well defined.
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For their study, researchers obtained data on adverse reactions to statins from electronic medical records and narrative provider notes. Overall, among 28,266 study patients, 19,989 (70.7%) continued to receive statin prescriptions following an adverse reaction. After an average of 4 years of follow-up, cumulative incidence of cardiovascular event or death was 12.2% among patients who continued to take statins and 13.9% among patients who discontinued statins.

In a secondary analysis of 7604 patients who switched statins following the perceived adverse reaction, 26.5% reported adverse reactions to the second statin, of which 84.2% continued to receive statins.

“Continued statin prescriptions after an adverse reaction were associated with a lower incidence of death and cardiovascular events,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Zhang H, Plutzky J, Shubina M, Turchin A. Continued statin prescriptions after adverse reactions and patient outcomes: a cohort study [published online July 25, 2017]. Ann Intern Med. DOI: 10.7326/M16-0838.