And in more from the UK, statins are now going to be put in the water. Well not quite, but allowed to be given to anyone ever suspected of maybe in the future developing heart disease given to anyone ever suspected of maybe in the future developing heart disease, which in the UK is basically anyone.

Almost six million people in England and Wales — nearly 15 per cent of all adults — are from today eligible for treatment with statins under ground-breaking NHS guidelines. A report by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), which advises on best treatments, will recommend that anyone at risk of cardiovascular disease should be prescribed the drug.About 1.8 million adults in England and Wales currently take statins, which are thought to save 7,000 lives a year. Doctors believe that the new ruling will double uptake to 3.4 million people, saving another 10,000 lives a year.

While this might sound like fantastic news for the drug companies, I think that the decision might somehow be connected to the fact that most of the big statins (with the exception of I believe Lipitor and Crestor) have gone off patent in the UK, and one suspects that Pravachol and Zocor will be most popular!