Thousands dying due to ‘nocebo effect’

Thousands of Britons are dying from heart attacks and strokes after being scared away from statins by warnings of non-existent side effects, the lead author of a major study has claimed.

Professor Peter Sever accused UK drug regulators after the investigation demonstrated that aching muscles and other reported symptoms could not be blamed on the cholesterol-lowering drugs.

The study, which involved around 10,000 patients at risk of heart and artery disease, highlighted a “nocebo effect” phenomenon that can turn expected bad outcomes into reality.

It is the opposite to the well-known placebo effect, the beneficial response experienced by some trial patients to “dummy” drugs containing no active ingredients.

Warnings of a number of common side effects listed on statin information leaflets were giving rise to nocebo symptoms despite having no provable connection with the drugs, the researchers found.

Reports of side effects had led to a fall in the number of patients taking statins, and a reluctance among some doctors to prescribe them, Prof Sever said. The consequences for high-risk patients were serious, he argued.

Prof Sever, from Imperial College London, said: “There are people out there who are dying because they’re not taking statins, and the numbers are large, the numbers are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands.

“And they are dying because of a nocebo effect, in my opinion.”