This is another sleight of hand used by the drug companies when they design studies, select the group most likely to benefit and then let the less well informed read it across to the public at large.

Methods 20 536 UK adults (aged 40-80 years) with coronary disease, other occlusive arterial disease, or diabetes were randomly allocated to receive 40 mg simvastatin daily (average compliance: 85%) or matching placebo (average non-study statin use: 17%).