godsilove wrote:So you have seen raw data from some statin studies? I'm just curious - what does this "raw data" consist of?
It should be noted that ten-year studies of statin use have shown a benefit; many trials are stopped based on predetermined criteria - if there is evidence of clear harm or benefit in the treatment arm, the study is stopped after this preplanned interim analysis since it is not considered ethical to subject the treatment group to further harm or to deny the control group of a treatment that could benefit them.
The following web site is a little hard to follow, I admit, but it is important and constitutes a great deal of work - analyzing the raw data for statin studies. I have relied heavily on the author of the health-heart.org (Canadian web site) Eddie Vos. Mr Vos not only supplied us with the NEJM advertisements (previous post), he has analyzed all the statin studies, and among other useful information, he was the first to point out that the Oxford "Heart Protection Study" had not and has not released its data. The following page summarizes his findings.
http://www.health-heart.org/cholesterol.pdf