Recently, statin safety and potential drug interactions have received close 
attention in the consumer and medical press. In particular, rosuvastatin, the 
most recent statin introduced into the US market, has been the object of much 
speculation. Many of these reports have lost sight of the proven efficacy of 
statins in coronary disease prevention at a time when coronary heart disease is 
the number one killer of adults, and have failed to frame the potential drug 
toxicity in the context of this benefit. Summarized here are the conclusions of 
the National Lipid Association's Statin Safety Assessment Task Force, which 
reviewed extensive new drug application (NDA) and postmarketing data for all the 
currently marketed statins regarding their effect on the liver, muscle, renal, 
and neurologic systems. The task force found that, overall, hepatic, renal, or 
neurologic function does not appear to be compromised by statin use. They do not 
recommend routine monitoring of these systems but do recommend ongoing 
surveillance of symptomatic patients. With respect to muscle toxicity, the task 
force's Muscle Expert Panel concluded that the incidence of myopathy and 
rhabdomyolysis is low and appears to be dose-related, rather than associated 
with the degree of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol lowering and also appears 
to be related to the individual statin used. For example, from the rosuvastatin 
NDA database and additional postmarketing data, the overall incidence of 
myopathy was found to be lower than that observed with other statins. 
Administrative claims data of hospitalization rates for adverse events in statin 
patients confirm the task force conclusion that, overall, statins are safe and 
well tolerated when used as monotherapy.