An assessment of statin safety by neurologists.

The National Lipid Association's (NLA) Statin Safety Task Force charged the Neurology Expert Panel with the task of reviewing the scientific evidence related to adverse effects with statins and providing assessments and advice regarding the safety of statins. The evidence included key adverse reaction statin literature identified via a Medline search by the Task Force and Panel members and the commissioned reviews and research presented in this supplement. Panel members were asked to use this evidence to independently form explicit answers to a series of questions posed by the Task Force. Panelists were asked to grade the type of literature and the confidence they had in it in forming their answers using prescribed scales. Panelists were encouraged to seek the highest level of evidence available to answer their questions and to concentrate on literature involving humans. In addition, the Neurology Expert Panel was asked to propose recommendations to regulatory authorities, health professionals, patients, researchers, and the pharmaceutical industry to address statin safety issues.