Hi, thank you for your question. You will need a prescription from your doctor in order to buy atorvastatin at pharmacies. Every prescription should contain the details such as the prescriber’s signature, date and address, name and address of patient, amount of medicine to be supplied and the dose, and the duration and frequency of supply.

You need a prescription to get medications because there are concerns that high-risk patients requiring high-dose statins might switch to a lower-dose on their own, resulting in less-than-optimal risk reduction. Also, high cholesterol patients on medications need to be monitored regularly. Once a dose is prescribed, they need a follow-up lipid profile between 3 and 12 months. More complicated patients will need more frequent visits and additional tests.

Besides, pharmacists may not have the skills needed to determine which patients are suitable candidates for statins. To determine suitability of statins for patients, healthcare providers will need to assess risk factors of developing heart disease, make sure there is no pre-existing condition which indicates high risk of heart disease requiring management by a doctor, check that statin is not contraindicated, check that patient is not taking other cholesterol-lowering drugs and check for possible interactions with other prescribed medications.

Pharmacists do not have access to patients’ medical records which would tell them whether statins is necessary. Pharmacists also do not have a way to tell doctors that the patient is using over-the-counter statins. Doctors will never know that the patient is taking statins and there is no way of monitoring their compliance.

Another reason is that patients may choose to take statins rather than managing high cholesterol with lifestyle changes. Given a choice between exercising, losing weight, giving up smoking or taking a pill, many patients are likely to choose the easiest option.

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