The decision in August 2001 by the German Pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG to withdraw the cholesterol-lowering statin drug Baycol from the market shocked the world. For years, the public was led to believe that statin drugs lowered cholesterol and possessed other health benefits as well. Millions of statin prescriptions are written yearly in the United States alone.

Unfortunately, Baycol was linked to 31 deaths. Moreover, deaths occurred at the manufacturer's recommended initial dose (0.4 mg/day) as well as at the highest dose (0.8 mg/day). The majority of deaths occurred in elderly patients and more often in women.

There are other statin drugs on the market, such as Lipitor (the best seller).  Like Baycol, these drugs are linked to the same rare muscle weakness, known as myositis, which occurs in about 1 in 1,000 statin users. Myositis occasionally progresses to rhabdomyolysis -- a complete breakdown of muscle cells that can lead to kidney failure and death.  Some experts believe that pravastatin (Pravachol) and fluvastatin (Lescol) may have less potential for this deadly drug interactions. The data at this time are not sufficient to declare one statin drug safer or more dangerous than the others.

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