Statins are the most prescribed drugs in America. At last count, more than 50 million people were taking medications such as atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin or lovastatin to control cholesterol. In theory, lowering LDL-cholesterol with such medicine should reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

These drugs have been on the market since 1987, when the Food and Drug Administration approved Mevacor. Cardiologists hailed it as a breakthrough. And yet, in 2026, the American Heart Association says that heart disease is still our number one killer. That has been the case since 1921.

The controversy over statins, surprisingly, is not over effectiveness. Instead, cardiologists are distressed by reports that statins can cause side effects. The latest analysis in The Lancet (Feb. 5, 2026) states that “Widespread confusion about statin safety hinders the ability of doctors and patients to make informed decisions about initiating or continuing statin therapy.”

The authors analyzed data from 19 trials involving 123,940 participants. The conclusion was that most side effects attributed to statins are not actually caused by statins. You can see this in headlines about the study: “Statins don’t cause most of the side effects on package warnings;” “Statins don’t cause most side effects blamed on them;” or “Statin pills safer than you think.”

The authors (members of the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration) admit that muscle outcomes and diabetes have already been established as potential problems for people who take a statin. Their statistical analysis determined that only four of 66 other side effects listed in the prescribing information were significantly more common among people taking statins than among those on placebo pills.

These included two markers of liver health, a change in the composition of urine and swelling of the legs or feet. None of these adverse reactions was very common, as all occurred in fewer than 1% of patients per year.

The investigators should be congratulated for focusing exclusively on trials with “systematic and unbiased event reporting.” After all, pollsters know that the way you ask a question can have a profound impact on the response. That is true in medical research as well.

The Cholesterol Treatment Trialists’ Collaboration worries that: “Unreliable information about adverse effects of statin therapy hampers patients’ and clinicians’ ability to make properly informed decisions regarding the balance of benefits and risks and might lead to people who would benefit from taking a statin not starting treatment, or stopping it prematurely, with potentially life-threatening health consequences.”

However, over the past several decades, thousands of readers have shared their experiences of severe muscle pain, neuropathy, cognitive difficulties and many other side effects. One reader reported: “I tried several statins at small doses, and all caused muscle pain after a while … When I was first prescribed a statin, more than 20 years ago, I knew nothing about statin side effects. These started a couple of months after I started taking it, and it took me a while to figure out what was causing the problem. I don’t appreciate being told that the problem is all in my head.”

The authors of The Lancet study would like prescribing information for statins to list only a tiny handful of side effects. We fear that would be a disservice to patients and clinicians.

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 300 W. 57th Street, 41st Floor, New York, NY 10019, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is “Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.”