Top 100 Drugs: #1

Atorvastatin (LIPITOR)

uh-TOR-vuh-stat-in (LIP-ih-tor)

Common Uses: High cholesterol

Mascot: “Lippy Tornado”

Alternate Mnemonics:

❖ “A-TORpedo to sink LDL (bad) cholesterol”

❖ “Stat-in for fat-in your arteries”

❖ “A tall statin knocks cholesterol down”

❖ “ATOR – A Top Of Range statin” – high potency at 40–80 mg

❖ “ATorvastatin attacks ATherosclerosis”

❖ Atorvastatin song available on YouTube, Spotify, etc

Drug Class: Cholesterol-lowering: Statin (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor)

Similar Statins: Rosuvastatin (#13), Simvastatin (#19), Pravastatin (#37), Lovastatin (#111)

Comparisons: More powerful than simvastatin

High-Alert Risk: ✅ Not high alert

Major Side Effects: Muscle pain, liver problems, rare rhabdomyolysis (muscle breakdown)

Narrow Therapeutic Index: No

Precautions: Avoid with liver problems or grapefruit juice (which increases drug levels)

Routes: Oral

Easily Replaceable? Yes – several other statins are available

Also: Does not need to be taken at bedtime (unlike simvastatin)

Sample Test Questions:

Q: What serious muscle-related condition is a rare side effect of atorvastatin?

A: Rhabdomyolysis – applicable to all statins

Q: Why should grapefruit be avoided while taking atorvastatin?

A: Grapefruit increases atorvastatin levels

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I assembled this because my daughter is a pharmacy tech studying for the certification test.

Eventually will be Top 300 Drugs but no hurry.

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