ladylush, there are some rumblings about the potential overuse of statins and their side-effects. Statins mostly work by blocking production of cholesterol in the body, but where they block the production pathway, they are also blocking the production of coenzyme Q10, an enzyme particularly necessary for mitochondrial energy production in muscles, the most important of which could be said to be the heart! So many statins also block the production of CoQ10 and this creates a risk of muscle fatigue - problematic when it is the heart.
The companies that produce statins have known about this side-effect since the late 1980s but choose not to do anything about it, like include CoQ10 in the pills, or advise co-prescription of CoQ10 with statins. And they keep randomly (it appears to me) reducing the "safe" cholesterol levels in the body; absolute levels of cholesterol are not a useful indicator of CVD except in familial hypercholesterolaemia, the ratio between LDL and HDL is far more important. Cholesterol is essential for maintenance of the integrity of all our cell walls - having cholesterol levels that are too low is dangerous. Pre-menopausal women should not be on statins routinely because cholesterol is the building block for the steroid hormones (most female hormones and testosterone, among others).
So, as they keep reducing the "normal" level of cholesterol, more people look like they need to be on statins for longer, which may contribute to weakened heart muscle. There are some doctors who are "on to" this and have written in the BMJ about it, but the general opinion is that statins are more beneficial than otherwise. It has been suggested as well that some of the RCT drug trials were slightly skewed, in that the outcome looked for was "does this drug reduce total serum cholesterol" - answer = yes. When perhaps what they should have asked was "does this drug help prevent CVD/ heart attacks/ strokes?" - answer = less clear.
sorry for essay-style post!