Member education
Statin drugs
Statins are drugs that help lower the amount of
cholesterol in the body. Based on research and
data, we include on our drug list statins that work
best. That’s because the best drugs can help
prevent serious medical problems like heart
attacks and strokes.
Member education
Too much bad cholesterol is harmful
Cholesterol is a type of fat that’s found in the blood. There
are two types: “good” cholesterol is called HDL and “bad”
cholesterol is called LDL. Everyone has cholesterol in their
body, but some people have too much. And high levels of
bad cholesterol can lead to heart disease and even heart
attack or stroke.
Statins help lower bad cholesterol
If your bad cholesterol is too high, it’s important to take
medicine to lower it. A statin is a type of drug that can lower
bad cholesterol. While statins help lower cholesterol, the main
reason for taking them is to prevent heart attack and stroke.
Step 1: Clinical review and rating
First, doctors and pharmacists – who are not our employees –
look at the best quality scientific research on statins. They use
a detailed report prepared by our pharmacists to review the
strongest clinical studies. This report starts with information
from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about each
drug’s approved uses, dosages and safety. The report also shows
how well drugs work and how safe they are.
The doctors and pharmacists also look at information that shows
how these drugs work in real life, not just in trials. Finally, they
look at all the data to rate which drugs will work the best for
members like you.
Your plan helps you access many statin drugs
Here’s a step-by-step look at how statins are chosen for the
drug list – the list of prescription drugs included in your plan.
Here’s what the research says about statins
• Generic statins, especially simvastatin (generic Zocor)
and atorvastatin (generic Lipitor), do a good
job of lowering bad cholesterol for many people.
• Crestor also does a good job of lowering bad
cholesterol. This brand-name drug is a good choice
for people who can’t take a generic statin or need
large decreases in LDL.
• Atorvastatin and pravastatin (generic Pravachol)
prevent against first and second heart attacks.
Atorvastatin may also help prevent first and
second strokes.
• At normal doses, all statins have about the same
side effects. They include muscle aches and weakness.
The side effects are more common when statins are
used with certain other drugs or given in higher doses.
• There is a higher risk of serious muscle and kidney
injury with the 80 mg dose of simvastatin. These
side effects may also happen when lower doses of
simvastatin are used with certain drugs. Ask your
pharmacist or doctor for more details.
• Pravastatin has the lowest number of interactions
with other drugs.
2 | Statin drugs
The names of some common statins are listed in the table below.
A 3 in this table means the drug is proven to work well.
• If you have diabetes, be sure to take your medicine and keep
up with doctor visits.
Helps prevent first Helps prevent
heart attack
second heart attack
Drug Name
atorvastatin and Lipitor
3
3
pravastatin and Pravachol
3
3
Crestor
3
simvastatin and Zocor
Helps prevent
first stroke
3
3
3
3
3
Altoprev, lovastatin and Mevacor
3
3
fluvastatin, Lescol and Lescol XL
Livalo
Helps prevent
second stroke
3
Research has yet to prove that Livalo prevents heart attacks or strokes.
Step 2: Cost review
Next, we use the drug ratings from the first step. We look at
how often doctors choose the best-rated drugs for patients.
Then, we review drug costs to make sure the best medicines
are affordable for you. We consider drug costs only after
we’ve looked at how well the drugs work.
Step 3: Choosing drugs
Next, we choose statins for the drug list that are safe, work well
and offer the best value. We decided these drugs should be
added to the drug list:
Lower Cost
(generics)
• atorvastatin
(generic Lipitor)
• fluvastatin (generic
Lescol)
• lovastatin
(generic Mevacor)
• pravastatin
(generic Pravachol)
• simvastatin
(generic Zocor)
Medium Cost
Higher Cost
• Crestor
• Altoprev
• L escol and Lescol XL
• Lipitor
• Livalo
• Mevacor
• Pravachol
• Zocor
Visit this website to learn more
American Heart Association: hearthub.org
The HeartHub website has lots of tools and articles on
heart disease and stroke. It also has good information
about lowering cholesterol.
Talk to your doctor about taking statins
It’s important to take charge of your health if you have high
cholesterol. Talk to your doctor to see if a statin is right for you.
Here are some other things you can do to stay healthy:
• Control your blood pressure.
• Exercise and maintain a healthy weight.
• If you smoke, try to quit.
Statin drugs | 3
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