[Some questions about statins].

More than ten years after the statins became available in therapeutics, some questions remain unanswered. What would be the populational impact if the results of clinical trials were applied to a country such as France? Is the extrapolation licit? Does the benefit of the statins actually exceed the risk? What is the relevant target population? Are statins more effective than agents acting on other cardiovascular risk factors? How efficient are the statins really? Are the statins effective in non-hypercholesterolaemic patients? What is the overall cost of the statins? Despite the fact that the statins are the drug of choice in many situations, it is still important for these questions to be answered before we accept the widespread use of statins in the general population, such as the large numbers of patients that the drug may be prescribed for in France.