[Editorial] Statin safety: when warnings outlive the evidence

00:00 - 14 Feb 2026

More than 30 years after the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study showed that statins save lives, their full public health potential remains unrealised. Statins are underused worldwide, and as a result, millions of people remain at risk of cardiovascular events that statins could help prevent. The reasons for this implementation gap are complex, but persistent concerns about safety continue to affect both prescribing practices and adherence. Fear of side-effects—such as muscle pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and perceived cognitive effects—is a major driver of statin therapy discontinuation, even though randomised nocebo trials have shown that most reported symptoms are attributable to expectation rather than to the drug itself.