Selling drugs to healthy people could mean billions for the drug industry

The FDA just gave AstraZeneca its blessings to add 6.5 million healthy people to its rolls of patients taking Crestor, a statin drug, as a preventative even if they do not have high cholesterol. That means health insurance will pay $3.50 per pill for all these millions of people until at least 2016, when generics can be sold.

Drug companies are already making billions on cholesterol lowering drugs, even though some question their widespread use. Some wonder whether the hype about cholesterol is a myth and taking statins actually poses a health risk. In fact, in February, the British medical journal The Lancet published a study linking statin drugs to diabetes risk. Does it make any sense to use a medication as a preventative for people who don't currently have high cholesterol and risk exposing them to diabetes?