Consumers' Association voices concern at over the counter statins

As statins went on sale without prescription in British pharmacies last week, the Consumers' Association argued that the public is being used as guinea pigs.

Simvastatin, one of the earliest and most used statins, is the first to be approved and will be sold in a low dose (10 mg) formulation under the brand name Zocor Heart-Pro, by Johnson & Johnson MSD.

Existing NHS guidelines say that statins should be prescribed only to patients who face a 30% risk of a heart attack over 10 years, but over the counter sales will be …