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Websites selling statins lack important safety information
Williams B. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2012;doi:10.1002/pds.3208.
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Patients purchasing statins online may encounter websites of poor quality, increasing potential serious implications for safety, according to recent study results.
Researchers collected data from websites generated during a typical consumer search for statins. From November to December 2010, the websites were systematically analyzed for quality using a website quality analysis tool and for the information presented for each medicine with a statin information quality analysis tool.
Overall, researchers found 184 websites from 17 countries that provided atorvastatin (n=40), pravastatin (n=40), rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca; n=40), simvastatin (n=40) and fluvastatin (Lescol, Novartis; n=24). More than 92% of websites did not list general contraindications and 47.3% did not list contraindicated medicines. Contraindications for a particular statin advertised were listed on 7.6% of the websites. Only 30.4% gave a complete list of cautions.
Regarding adverse effects, 7.1% of the websites presented a list compatible with current prescribing information. Thirteen percent listed all adverse effects that appeared in official product labeling, whereas 62.5% had only a partial list and 24.5% had no list. Absent adverse effects included pancreatitis (96.2%), hypersensitivity (91.3%), liver disease (48.4%) and myopathy (37%). Researchers also found a lack of information on what to do in the event of an overdose (35.3%) or what to do if a dose was missed (60.3%).
According to other results, 4.9% of advertisements listed that the medicine was a prescription-only medicine and only 45.7% stated patients should speak to their doctors if they were currently taking other medicines. From date of access, 46.7% of websites appeared to have been created or updated in the previous 2 years.
Most websites were inadequate in one or more safety aspects. Patients obtaining medicines from these websites without supervision or monitoring put themselves at potential safety risks, the researchers said.
“It should be remembered that all medicines carry associated hazards,” the researchers said. “In the case of statins, the impression gained from our study is that they are being offered for sale couched in ‘lifestyle’ terms, implying that they are safer than they actually are.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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