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Were The Drawbacks Of Statin Drugs Hidden Until Lipitor’s Patent Expired?

Posted August 15, 2012: by Bill Sardi
Timeline: important dates
- 1985: Scientist at Parke-Davis synthesizes atorvastatin (Lipitor)
- 1996: Approved by Food & Drug Administration
- 1997: Lipitor first sold by Pfizer, the same year the Food & Drug Administration first allowed consumer drug advertising.
- 2011: November 30, 2011, Lipitor patent expires
- 2012: April, Lipophilic (fat soluble) statin drugs reported to increase risk for cognitive (thinking) impairment. Lipitor is the most lipophilic statin (cholesterol-lowering) drug. The less lipophilic (more water-soluble) statin drugs are less likely to produce thinking problems.
- 2012: August 8, Heavy users of statin drugs reported to incur double the relative risk for calcification (stiffening) of arteries.
- 2012: August 11, Statin drugs reported to increase the relative risk for diabetes by 28%.
- 2012: August, Statin drugs increase the relative risk for cataracts among Type II Diabetics by 50%.
Lipitor is the world’s best-selling drug ever, with more than $125 billion in sales over 14.5 years.

In hard numbers Lipitor only reduces the risk for a non-fatal heart attack from 3.3% to ~2.0% (-1.3% difference) over a period of 3.5 years and does NOT reduce the risk for mortal heart attacks. Source: Lipitor Prescribing Information (See chart below)

© 2012 Bill Sardi, Knowledge of Health, Inc.
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