Can we do more to get patients to cholesterol targets?

The role of cholesterol lowering in reducing cardiovascular risk is well established but a large proportion of qualifying patients at the highest risk are still not getting treatment with statins. Of those that do, most are not achieving recommended cholesterol targets. The cost of this, in terms of death and work days lost, is enormous. Patients should not be discharged after an acute event until secondary prevention has been initiated. Individual patient response to therapy should be subsequently monitored and adjusted as appropriate; patients should be reassured on statin safety.