FDA adds warning about muscle injury to Zocor

All statins, a popular type of cholesterol-lowering drug, carry a low risk of muscle injury. But patients on the highest dose of the drug simvastatin, most commonlyknown as Zocor , seem to be at an elevated risk—so doctors should stop prescribing that dose for most people, the Food and Drug Administration has advised. That dose, 80 milligrams, should continue to be taken only by patients who have taken it for at least 12 months without muscle injury, the agency said Wednesday in a safety announcement .