During a period of “intense debate” about statins — which reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) but have made headlines emphasizing possible side effects — researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine found that a large number of people living in the U.K. have stopped taking the drugs.

The researchers examined data from primary care records and calculated the proportion of patients who started and stopped using statins from January 2011 to March 2015 in hopes of discovering how media coverage and public debate — which took place from October 2013 to March 2014 — may have affected statin use.

In the fall of 2013, the British Medical Journal published two controversial articles about statins.
The articles, according to Vox, relied heavily on lower-quality observational data, but they were reported in the U.K. media as evidence that the harms of these cholesterol-lowering drugs might outweigh their benefits in some patients.

For the patients taking statins for primary prevention, the researchers found that there was an 11 percent increase in stopping taking statins, and for those taking the drug for secondary prevention, the percentage increased to 12.

According to the researchers, the increase appeared to be temporary since the overall proportion of those who stopped taking the drug started once again six months after the coverage on it, and older patients and the ones taking statins for longer were more likely to stop the therapy.

The team also found that there was a decrease in the number of patients receiving a 10-year CVD risk score (primary prevention) from their primary care doctor after the media discussed statins.

“Our findings suggest that widespread coverage of health stories in the mainstream media can have an important, real world impact on the behaviors of patients and doctors,” said study author Dr. Liam Smeeth from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in a statement. “This may have significant consequences for people’s health.”

He also said, “In the case of statins, we are concerned that widespread reporting of the debate has given disproportionate weight to a minority view about possible side effects. This has dented public confidence in a drug, which most scientists and health professionals believe to be a safe and effective option against heart disease for the vast majority of patients.”

They estimate that at least 2,000 cardiovascular problems will occur because of the individuals who stopped taking statins, but do acknowledge they cannot confirm that the patients who stopped taking statins were influenced because of the media coverage.

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