FDA adds new safety information to statin drugs
Posted February 29, 2012 10:02 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON – Federal health officials in the United States are adding new warnings about the risks of memory loss to statins, a widely prescribed group of cholesterol-lowering drugs.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it is making labelling changes to medicines like Pfizer Inc.’s Lipitor, AstraZeneca’s Crestor and Merck & Co. Inc.’s Zocor. The drugs are used by tens of millions of U.S. patients to help prevent heart-related problems associated with cholesterol.
New labelling on all such drugs will warn of memory loss and confusion reported among certain patients taking statins. In general the problems were not serious and went away after patients stopped taking the drugs, according to the FDA.
The FDA said the problems are not generally serious and go away after patients stop taking the drugs.
Health Canada said Canadian labels for some statin drugs already contain information about the risk of memory loss. The agency advises diabetics to inform their doctors if blood sugar level changes are noticed.
