HONEST MEDICINE: My Dream for the Future

The Crestor Study: A Humorous Addendum

While most of the news stories following the release of the JUPITER study were serious –- some for and others against –- a few people found considerable humor in the study’s conclusion that many more people might benefit from taking statins, and in particular, Crestor. (See “Statins (Crestor) for Everyone? Or Could Diet and Nutritional Supplements Do the Job Better?")

Some of the people who added to the discussion with HUMOR:

1)    “Cheating Death" --  Stephen Colbert

A very funny video covering several medical stories –- including the JUPITER/Crestor study -– with great wit. Colbert calls the study “a great breakthrough in the battle to find things prescribe to people who don’t need them.” His response to a doctor, critical of the study, who advises “a cautious approach” to prescribing statins preventatively: “Someone hasn’t gotten enough free Crestor pens!” And Colbert says that the cost of prescribing Crestor ($100 a month) is a “small price to pay to not have the heart attack that there’s no way of knowing if you would have had.” A delightful spoof.

2) The Happy Hospitalist gives a solution, as well -- part of which is:

I have a solution:

•    All Americans will now get Crestor to reduce their CRP to reduce their chances of developing heart disease.
•    All Americans Will now get lisinopril to prevent the proteinuria they will get from their diabetes they get from Crestor
•    All Americans will now take metformin to treat the diabetes they developed while taking Crestor

Statins (Crestor) for Everyone? Or Could Diet and Nutritional Supplements Do the Job Better?

The results of a recent study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, may well pave the way for almost all Americans to be taking pharmaceuticals.

In the words of one news report, The JUPITER study (“Justification for the Use of Statins in Primary Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin”) concluded that there is “powerful evidence that seemingly healthy people having what are considered safe cholesterol levels and no apparent risk for heart disease could lower their chances of having a heart attack or stroke or dying from any cause by taking a widely prescribed cholesterol medication—Crestor.”

(Emphasis is mine.)

The JUPITER study was conducted by Paul Ridker, MD, of Harvard and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Ridker has been a longtime pioneer of the theory that elevated levels of C-Reactive Protein, a substance in the blood that signals inflammation, is an important predictor of heart disease.

Of the results of this study, Dr. Ridker noted: “The potential public health benefits are huge. It really changes the way we have to think about prevention of heart attack and stroke.” I agree. But I don’t agree with Dr. Ridker that putting more people on statins would necessarily be a good thing.

The JUPITER study, I might add, was sponsored by AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of Crestor.