Computer glitch could have led to incorrect statins prescriptions in UK

Health regulators in the UK have launched an investigation after it emerged that patients may have been wrongly prescribed statins or taken off them due to a computer error.

According to Pulse magazine, there was a bug in a computer system used by some GPs to assess a patient's risk, which meant some people had had their risk of cardiovascular disease miscalculated.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had contacted GPs to let them know of the error in the SystmOne clinical IT software since 2009.

However, the regulator said that glitch might have affected only a number of patients. The regulator further stressed that the risk to patients was low.

The MHRA said, ''An investigation has been launched into a digital calculator used by some GPs to assess the potential risk of cardiovascular disease in patients.

''We are working closely with the company responsible for the software to establish the problem and address any issues identified.

 ''Clinical advice is that the risk to patients is low and only a limited number of patients are potentially affected. GPs have been informed and they will contact individual patients should any further action be necessary.''

According to experts, some patients wrongly denied the drugs might have died, while others who had been wrongly prescribed the drugs might suffer side-effects such as muscle pain.

The software introduced in February 2009, is used in a third of GP surgeries in England.

Statins are a group of medicines that help lower the level of ''bad cholesterol'' in the blood.

People with high levels of bad cholesterol risked hardening and narrowing of the arteries and cardiovascular disease.

Maker of the software, computer firm TPP, has 40 million patient records.

TPP last night refused to state what the glitch was. It said the calculator was intended to be used as an  ''advisory tool''.