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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Quitting statins is safe for older, low-risk adults. A large French randomized trial found that adults 75 and older who stopped taking statins for primary cardiovascular prevention had virtually the same 3-year mortality as those who kept taking them. Quality of life and adverse event rates were also similar between groups, raising fresh questions about long-term statin use in this population.
Should older adults keep taking statins forever? Maybe not.
A new randomized trial published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity suggests that stopping statins in adults aged 75 and older who take them purely for primary prevention doesn't increase the risk of dying. The SITE study, conducted across 297 primary care sites in France, enrolled 1,180 patients (median age 80) and randomly assigned them to either continue or discontinue statin therapy for three years.
The results? Nearly identical outcomes. About 7.9% of those who continued statins died vs. 7.2% in the discontinuation group — a difference so small it confirmed noninferiority. Adverse events and quality-of-life scores were also comparable between groups.
By the Numbers
Why it matters: Millions of older adults take statins indefinitely, often with little evidence of benefit at advanced ages. This trial gives clinicians and patients a stronger foundation for shared decision-making — particularly for those who are asymptomatic and tolerating therapy well, where the case for deprescribing is nuanced but worth the conversation.
