I have been reporting on the possible bad effects of statins for years, after I experienced bad muscle cramps as a result of taking them.
I have recently come across the following American article, from the Washington Post:
Patients’ concerns about drug side effects are often shrugged off by their doctors, according to a survey of 650 patients who were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins.
Statins, such as Lipitor and Zocor, are common drugs with widely known side effects that include liver damage, muscle problems, memory and mood changes, and more. In the case of muscle problems, if the side effect is not recognized it can progress to a potentially fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis.
Nonetheless, patients who responded to the survey said that they had to initiate a discussion about side effects with their doctor, and when they did:
47 percent said their doctors dismissed their muscle or cognitive problems, and said they were not statin-related
51 percent with a type of nerve pain called peripheral neuropathy said their doctors denied a connection to the drugs
32 percent said their doctors denied a connection between their symptoms and statins
29 percent said their doctors "neither endorsed nor dismissed the possibility of symptom link to statins"
Rather than attributing the patients complaints to the drugs, many doctors instead blamed the “normal aging process” or denied the symptoms entirely.
Side effects are already underreported by 90 to 99 percent, according to one Harvard Medical School expert, and the FDA relies heavily on such reports to gauge a drug’s safety once it hits the market.
In short, the survey suggests that the FDA is missing out on a wealth of ADRs because doctors are not recognizing them in patients.
The study’s authors believe that statin-related side effects are not the only ones being missed.
They suggest that many other drug side effects are also being ignored. The researchers speculated that doctors’ tendencies to ignore drug side effects may be due to the powerful ad campaigns touting medications’ benefits and downplaying side effects.
P.S. Also refer to this website: http://www.medications.com/se/lipitor
I agree - the reason why Doctors ignore to tell you about the side effects is because the drug companies pay them to push that particular drug.
Twice in the last two years I lost faith in the Medical Practise here because of two incidents that affected me. On the second occasion I had to have an emergency Saturday morning appointment to see the Doctor and tell him about the side effects of the tablets I was taking and the fact I was considering stopping them, having suffered for two days.
I returned a few days later only to be told of the negative result of the test I had been given (ear infection) so hadn't need to take them at all. Neither did I need to endure the unnecessary suffering (which then bought on a three week stint of piles/constipation!)
Needless to say I haven't been back since!