Should Lipitor Be Sold Over The Counter?

Let’s get one thing straight from the get-go. We love the idea of self care. The more tools and treatments people have to take care of themselves the better. Running to the doctor for every ache and pain or minor ailment is a waste of time and resources.
Examples: We have always been big boosters of home tests. We think everyone with hypertension should have a home blood pressure monitor to track progress. Ditto for blood sugar and diabetes.
Where would we be without aspirin? This incredibly inexpensive pill probably saves more lives than most other drugs in the pharmacy through its anti-clotting impact on blood platelets and possibly through its anti-cancer action. It is still the gold standard when it comes to pain and inflammation.
Many of our most effective over-the-counter medications were once available only by prescription. Antifungal creams and lotions such as Lamisil, Lotrimin and Micatin work well and are safe enough for OTC use. The same is true for hydrocortisone cream. It’s perfectly safe for minor skin itches or irritations.
So, what about Lipitor (atorvastatin)? Although Pfizer has neither confirmed nor denied plans, some insiders suggest it would like to sell a nonprescription version of Lipitor once this blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug loses its patent in November. Hardly any wonder. Lipitor had gross revenue of over $11 billion last year, making it one of the most successful drugs in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. Once Lipitor goes generic, that golden egg is likely to shrink dramatically.
Why shouldn’t this incredibly popular statin-type cholesterol-lowering medicine be given the green light to go over the counter? We can actually think of two big reasons.
1) There has been a false belief perpetuated over the last few decades that if you lower your cholesterol levels with a statin-type drug you can lower your risk of a heart attack. This message has been reinforced by commercials and print ads. The trouble is that the data do not support the message.
It is absolutely true that if someone has clear signs and symptoms of heart disease or has suffered a heart attack, statins do appear to lower the risk of a repeat heart attack. For otherwise healthy people, however, the benefits are much less clear. Two major analyses of many randomized clinical trials of statins found that these drugs don’t necessarily prolong the lives of healthy people who just have high cholesterol (Archives of Internal Medicine, June 28, 2010; Cochrane Reviews, Jan. 19, 2011).
If lowering cholesterol with a drug like simvastatin or atorvastatin does not prolong life for healthy people, why should anyone be able to buy Lipitor over the counter without a doctor’s supervision? If you have had a heart attack, you darn well better be under medical supervision and have all your risk factors monitored periodically by a cardiologist.
2) The second reason we would worry about seeing Lipitor (or any statin) go over the counter is safety. Over the years we have heard from way too many patients that they have suffered serious complications from statins in general and Lipitor in particular. Here is an overview about the safety of statins.
If you want to read about other complications, visit these links:
Statins and ALS
Statins and Sex
Statins and Diabetes

Statins and Pain
Statins and Memory

So, what do you think? Should statins like Lipitor become available without a prescription? Should we let the FDA know your thoughts on this matter. Please comment below and thanks for taking time to share your opinion.