Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the level of use of statins.

The efficacy and safety of statins has been studied in a number of large trials which showed that they can reduce cardiovascular events low-density lipoprotein strokes and save lives. The studies have also provided evidence that more significant lowering of LDL cholesterol with statins is associated with increased benefits in reducing cardiac events, particularly in patients who are at high risk such as those with a history of coronary artery disease and diabetes. Trials have also shown that medically significant side effects with statins are rare. Overall, the benefits of using statins to reduce cholesterol levels are considered to outweigh the risk of side-effects in the majority of patients.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the national body responsible for issuing best practice guidance for the National Health Service in England, has also published a clinical guideline on cardiovascular disease. This guideline, ‘Cardiovascular disease: risk assessment and reduction, including lipid modification’ was last updated in September 2016 and makes recommendations on the effective use of statins. NICE’s guideline is available at the following link:

www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg181