By Sophie Borland, Health Correspondent Experts believe the 10p-a-day statins will be offered to up to an extra five million patients Prescriptions for statins have trebled in a decade, with nearly 60million doled out last year. The NHS now spends £100million a year handing out the pills to approximately seven million Britons, according to official figures. And this is set to rise further after next week, when it is thought that the health watchdog will urge GPs to offer many more patients statins to prevent heart attacks and strokes. NICE will publish guidance a week from tomorrow which is likely to tell doctors that anyone with a 10 per cent risk of developing heart disease over the next decade should be prescribed the medication.
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NHS spends £100million a year handing out statins to seven million people
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Number set to rise as GPs urged to prescribe pills to many more patients
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Experts say 10p a day drugs will be given to an extra five million patients
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But critics say they can cause type 2 diabetes and debilitating muscle pain
‘But to prescribe these drugs to those at low risk prompts a real concern we are over-medicalising and over-statinising @placeholder.’