Statin prescribing fell after drug became available over the counter
BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.333.7568.569-c (Published 14 September 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:569- Roger Dobson
- Abergavenny
The number of GPs' prescriptions of statins fell by 10% in the United Kingdom after low dose simvastatin was made available over the counter in August 2004.
Around 600 000 fewer statin prescriptions were issued in the second quarter of 2005 after the switch than would have been predicted by the previous trend, says a paper that assessed the effect of the policy change.
The authors of the paper, which was published online ahead of print publication on 5 September in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety (www3.interscience.wiley.com; doi: 10.1002/pds.1314), say that …
Log in
Log in using your username and password
Log in through your institution
Subscribe from £173 *
Subscribe and get access to all BMJ articles, and much more.
* For online subscription
Access this article for 1 day for:
£38 / $45 / €42 (excludes VAT)
You can download a PDF version for your personal record.