Primary Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease With Statins

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In the current issue of Circulation , Lazar et al report the results of their modeling of the cost-effectiveness of alternative statin treatment strategies for primary prevention using low-cost, lower-potency generic statins.1 Lazar's study informs clinical decisions and practice guidelines about the potential use of statin therapy in people at low to moderate risk for coronary heart disease. It also provides an opportunity to consider the appropriate use and potential misuse of decision models to inform and guide clinical practice, and it highlights research opportunities, challenges, and potential limitations of comparative effectiveness, as well. Patients and providers commonly express the desire to make medical decisions solely on the basis of anticipated clinical benefits, harms, and patient preferences and values, without considering the distorting effects of cost. With the widespread availability of generic forms of most US-licensed statins (as of November 2011, rosuvastatin will be the only Food and Drug Administration-approved patent-protected statin in the United States), the cost of statin therapy has dropped precipitously. All currently available generic statins, with the exception of simvastatin 80 mg, can be purchased for as little $0.11 to $0.13 a pill at 1 or more major national pharmacy chains. Article see p 146 At these acquisition costs, Lazar et al find that low/moderate potency statin therapy is cost saving for those without a prior cardiovascular event at a moderately high risk of experiencing a coronary heart disease (CHD) event (10% to 20% over 10 years; 2 Framingham Heart Study [FHS] risk factors and a low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol [LDL-C] >100 mg/dL), and those with 2 risk factors but a 130 mg/dL, as well. They further identify a cost-effective maximum impact strategy that comprises all people with 2 Framingham risk factors, regardless of 10-year FHS risk or LDL-C level, those …