Statin side effects: Almost universal and often missed.
One of the most distressing things about practicing medicine these days is the blind faith that most people, doctors and patients, have in cholesterol pills like Lipitor, Crestor, Vytorin, and Zocor, just to name a few of the most popular statin drugs available today. This faith comes not from gullibility, but from carefully crafted drug company misdirection. Few realize that statins work differently than other drugs physicians prescribe for long-term use. Most drugs just block a receptor. Statins block a metabolic pathway, and this means they can alter every cell in your body in one way or another. What exactly…
Pay for Performance
Your Doctor May be Paid to Prescribe Cholesterol-Lowering Statins Do you know what a HEDIS measure is? Most patients don't, and few doctors do. It's a measure of how well your doctor is following certain practice guidelines. 90 percent of insurance companies grade doctors using HEDIS. And it's important to know that these markers include getting your LDL cholesterol numbers down with drugs. If you have diabetes or cardiovascular disease, your doctor can be rewarded for following these rules. On the other hand, doctors who don't will be financially penalized. This is one reason why I do not work with…