John A. Johnson, MD, MBA: Statins are medications that are used to lower cholesterol. They come with a lot of side effects; namely, the potential for causing damage, or injury, to the liver and muscle injury—so myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. A lot of these conditions can sometimes be painful and harmful. What we recommend, when a patient is started on a statin, is that they receive regular touchpoints with their clinician to ensure that their liver function tests are assessed, so that none of these negative events are occurring. Likewise, we want to ensure that our members are tolerating the medication and that it’s efficacious (meaning that it’s lowering the LDL [low-density lipoprotein] as the clinician would like it to).
Because these medications have a lot of side effects and safety concerns, sometimes the public tends to be a bit afraid of them. [However], the medications have been around for quite some time, and they’ve actually been proven to be very successful in lowering the LDL and lowering the risk of cardiovascular events, such as stroke. We definitely support, at WellCare, the use of statins, and we make these medications available on our preferred drug list.
Inside the Center's MDD Value Model and Its Use of Dynamic Pricing
May 13th 2025Larragem Raines, MS, of the Center for Innovation & Value Research, discusses the organization's major depressive disorder (MDD) open-source value model, dynamic pricing, and the future role of artificial intelligence in care.
Listen
3 Maternal Risk Factors Linked to Elevated Offspring Blood Pressure
May 14th 2025Offspring born to mothers with prepregnancy obesity, gestational diabetes, or hypertensive disorders of pregnancy had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels than those born to mothers without these risk factors.
Read More