High cholesterol
simvastatin
Heart disease is the top cause of death for women, but women were under 40% of the people in its studies.
- 38.3%
of the people in the studies were women
- 55%
of studies did not allow pregnant women
- 1%
looked at results for women separately
Was someone like me tested?
Choose the group that fits you.
Not one of these studies reported results separately for any of the groups below.
Pregnant women
55% of studies would not let pregnant women join, and we found no study that tested this medicine in pregnancy.
What do we know?
What the FDA drug label says
Stop taking it when you find out you are pregnant, or ask your doctor. Because of how it works it might harm the baby. It was never tested in pregnant women.
Good to know
Heart disease is the top cause of death for women, yet women were under 40% of the people in these studies.
What women report more
Compared with men taking the same medicine.
- 3.3×Physical symptoms with no clear cause
- 2.1×Broken bones
- 2.1×Problems with skin, tendons and other connective tissue
- 2.1×Changes to the front of the eye
How many times more often women reported each problem than men taking the same medicine, based on reports to the FDA. This is a warning sign, not proof the medicine caused it.
Make it about you
Check it against your medicines
Check simvastatin against the medicines, pregnancy and birth control in your profile.
Join to checkAll the details
Every number behind this page.
Who was in the studies
149,396 people in 119 studies
Race
- White92.4%
- Asian3.9%
- Black / African American1.9%
- Other1%
- Hispanic / Latina0.3%
Studies didn't say how many of the women were Black, Asian or another race — only totals for everyone.
- Hispanic or Latina
- 7.7%
- Age 65 or older
- 68.4%
- Studies with men only
- 3
- Studies with women only
- 4
Rules that kept women out
Share of studies with each rule.
- 55%
No pregnant women
Women who were pregnant could not join.
See the exact rule
“Pregnant or lactating woman, or intending to become pregnant” NCT00202878
- 39%
No heart disease
Women with heart disease, heart rhythm problems or a past heart attack were turned away.
See the exact rule
“Patients with evidence of a cardiovascular event in the 12-month pre-index period.” NCT01304641
- 37%
No diabetes
Women with diabetes were turned away.
See the exact rule
“has Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes mellitus and is on statin therapy, is poorly controlled, is newly diagnosed (within 3 months of Visit 1), has recently experienced repeated hypoglycemia or unstable glycemic control or is taking new or recently…” NCT00479882
- 34%
No breastfeeding moms
Women who were breastfeeding could not join.
See the exact rule
“Pregnant or lactating woman, or intending to become pregnant” NCT00202878
- 27%
Had to use birth control
Women who couldn't or didn't want to use birth control were turned away.
See the exact rule
“Child-bearing potential (i.e. premenopausal woman who was not using a reliable method of contraception)” NCT00125593
- 24%
No cancer
Women with current or past cancer were turned away.
See the exact rule
“…lity to take trial treatments for the duration of the study (e.g. severe respiratory disease, history of cancer or evidence of spread within last 5 years other than non-melanoma skin cancer, or recent history of alcohol or substance misuse)” NCT00461630
What nobody checked
Share of studies that recorded each thing.
- 1%Results shown separately for women
- 0%Whether anyone was pregnant
- 0%Whether women were past menopause
- 12%Body weight (BMI)
- 15%Hispanic / Latina or not
- 41%Race
All 119 studies
Study titles and rules are shown in their original English.