Healthcare professionals have warned that patient care could be compromised by GPs feeling pressured to prescribe cholesterol-lowering medicines based on cost.

The warning follows a survey, commissioned by MSD, of 452 GPs across the UK, which found 93 per cent had been told to switch a patient's dyslipidaemia medication to a cheaper alternative.

More than two thirds of those questioned felt frustrated by restrictions on prescribing, while 60 per cent believed cost was restricting best medical practice when it came to preventing cardiovascular disease.

The study found that cost meant GPs were reluctant to prescribe more expensive cardiovascular drugs, such as ezetimibe, to those who had issues with statins

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Dr Dermot Neely, co-chair of HEART UK's familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) guideline implementation team, said the prescribing restrictions could be "putting a significant number of our patients at unnecessary risk". Amish Patel, managing director at Hodgson Pharmacy in Kent, said budgets should not come before patient care and that more expensive cholesterol-lowering drugs should be prescribed "if needed". "I always believe the patient comes first, no matter what," he said.

Generic statins are the preferred treatment option for cholesterol management. However, GPs have the option of prescribing more expensive Nice-approved medications, such as ezetimibe, to patients with a high risk of cardiovascular disease who have experienced tolerability issues with statins.