Cholesterol drug to be sold over-the-counter

A drug that can reduce the risk of heart attacks is to become available without a prescription for the first time, Health Secretary John Reid announced today.

The Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) has advised the government that the cholesterol-lowering statin, simvastatin, should be available without prescription in a 10mg dose.

Statins are designed to reduce heart attacks by lowering cholesterol levels - heart attacks can be cut one-third in users after three years of taking the drug, the health department said.

Currently, statins are prescribed to 1.8 million people and are believed to save between 6,000 and 7,000 lives a year. Coronary heart disease is the country's single biggest killer and more than 110,000 people in England die from the disease every year.

Accepting the committee's recommendation, Mr Reid said: "This new move will allow more people to protect themselves from the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks.

"By extending access to this drug we are giving people more choice about how they protect their health. We are committed to extending choice whenever advised it is safe to do so."

Simvastatin, which has been available in the UK for the last 14 years, has been used by millions of people worldwide and has a very well established safety record, the health department said.

The move will also give pharmacists a "greater role in helping people to stay healthy", according to Dr Reid.

The 10mg dosage of the drug will be available to buy at pharmacies in monthly packs from this summer.

Pharmacists will ask people a series of questions and, where appropriate, offer a range of health tests to ensure that it is safe to issue the drug. Under the plans, statins will still be available on prescription.

Present guidelines suggest that statins should be prescribed for patients who have a 30% chance of heart attack within the next 10 years.

(gmcg)