The Clinical and Financial Cost of SAMS

The clinical and financial cost of statin-associated muscle symptoms (SAMS) for patients, providers, and the overall health system can be highly impactful. The high prevalence of SAMS warrants an assessment of the clinical and financial burden to patients, providers, and the health system. Clinical and financial costs include the need for additional laboratory testing, clinic visits, additional prescriptions or modifications of prescriptions, and potential to have cardiovascular (CV) events related to stopping or reducing the dose of statin therapy. Providers’ clinical and financial costs include increased utilization to educate, screen for, and modify therapy in order to treat and prevent SAMS in patients subsequently decreasing the ability to see or treat additional patients. The health system clinical and financial costs relate to decreased ability to see additional patients or increase access to patients if managing or assessing additional patients with SAMS, added resources for additional laboratory testing, and increased resources associated with treating new CV events in patients who have stopped or decreased statins secondary to SAMS and have subsequent CV events. A focus on preventing and managing SAMS requires a focused effort to ensure the increased clinical and financial costs do not overburden the patient, providers, and the health system as a whole.