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Negative publicity linked to early discontinuation of statins

In Denmark, negative news stories related to statins were associated with an increase in individuals choosing to cease their statin therapy early, according to recently published data.  

“We found that exposure to negative news stories about statins was linked to stopping statins early and explained 2% of all heart attacks and 1% of all deaths from cardiovascular disease associated with early discontinuation of statins. Although we cannot say for sure that statin-related negative news stories cause the early discontinuation of statins, our findings suggest that this is likely,” Børge Nordestgaard, MD, DMSc, chief physician, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, said in a press release.

To assess the association between early statin discontinuation and statin-related news stories, Nordestgaard and Sune Fallgaard Nielsen, PhD, identified 674,900 individuals in the Danish population, aged 40 years and older, who had initiated statin therapy from 1995 to 2010. 

Overall, an increase in statin use was seen during the study period, with less than 1% of individuals using statins in 1995, up to 11% in 2010, according to the researchers. Additionally, early statin discontinuation was also seen, with 18% discontinuing early in 2010, up from 6% in 1995.

Between 1995 and 2010, across Danish newspapers, magazines, radio, television, websites and news agencies, researchers identified 100 negative, 1,090 neutral and 731 positive statin-related news stories. All statin-related news stories increased over the study period, from 40 per year in 1995 to 400 per year in 2009, according to the researchers.

A 9% increased risk of stopping statins within 6 months of starting treatment was seen for every negative news statin-related news story, according to a press release.

Increased risk of early statin discontinuation was seen in men, those living in cities and those of non-Danish ethnicity.

Positive statin-related news stories, CVD and diabetes were all associated with a decrease in early statin discontinuation, according to a press release.

“Positive news stories tend to be evidence-based, explaining how statins can prevent heart disease and early death, while this is often not the case for negative news stories, which tend to focus on relatively rare and moderate side effects. Considering how often there is a negative statin-related news story, we detected a surprisingly strong association: an increase of 9% in early discontinuation for each nationwide story. If negative statin-related news stories did not exist at all, then early statin discontinuation would decrease by 1.3% in the whole of the population,” Nordestgaard said in the release. – by Casey Hower

Disclosures: Nordestgaard reports receiving consultancy fees and/or lecture honoraries from Aegerion, Amgen, Astra Zeneca, B. Braun, Denka Seiden, Dezima, Fresenius, ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Kaneka, Kowa, Lilly, Merck, Omthera, Pfizer, Regeneron and Sanofi. Nielsen reports no relevant disclosures.