Statins rarely cause serious side effects

Research question Are statins safe?

Answer Yes. Serious side effects such as rhabdomyolysis, myopathy, and peripheral neuropathy are rare. There's little or no evidence that statins cause liver disease, renal disease, or cognitive decline

Why did the authors do the study? Statins are widely used and are generally considered safe. But well documented concerns over two drugs in this class—cerivastatin and rosuvastatin—prompted these authors to review the published safety data on all statins. Cerivastatin was withdrawn from the market in 2001.

What did they do? They systematically searched for data on the side effects of any statin from four sources: randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, voluntary …