article_snippet: A powerful statin carries a high rate of harmful side-effects including an increased risk of diabetes, a leading campaigner warns today.
article_snippet: British experts have said statins are safe and effective, with protection against heart attacks outweighing possible side-effects.
article_snippet: Statins are the most commonly prescribed group of drugs in the NHS and given to between eight and ten million adults.
article_snippet: Statins include those with cardiac disease or at risk of a heart attack or stroke.
article_snippet: Crestor was the most prescribed brand name drug in the US last year and accounts for around four per cent of NHS prescriptions for statins.
article_snippet: Statins are the most commonly prescribed group of drugs in NHS NHS and given to between eight and ten million adults .
article_snippet: ‘This opinion piece raises more questions about pharmaceutical marketing and prescribing practices in the US than the safety and use of statins in general.
article_snippet: The NHS estimates statins save 7,000 lives a year.
article_snippet: A spokesman for Statins said: ‘Statins are safe and effective, and play an important role.
article_snippet: A senior doctor took a statin for two years despite being at low risk and developed crippling muscle pain.
article_snippet: Senior doctor: Dr Kailash Chand, a GP and deputy chairman of the British Medical Association, took a statin for two years despite being at low risk and developed crippling muscle pain .
article_snippet: Statins have an important role for patients who already have heart disease.
article_snippet: But we must take much more care about prescribing Statins to low-risk patients.
highlights_snippet: Dr Sidney Wolfe says there is Statins .
  
highlights_snippet: Statins are the most commonly prescribed group of drugs in the NHS .
  