In a study presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, the researchers identified 62,070 patients aged ≥18 years who were admitted to the Intermountain Healthcare with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) between 1999 and 2013. These patients survived the initial hospitalization, and were followed up for ≥ 3 years or until death. It was found that 71% patients were prescribed statins upon discharge from the hospital while 37.4% were on statins at 1 year after discharge. The figure further reduced to 30.1% at 3-years post-discharge. 29% patients were not given a statin upon discharge. Of these, 6.6% were started on statin therapy later. The results demonstrated that a higher likelihood of discontinuing statin therapy was seen in patients with no incidence of major adverse cardiac events by 3-years post-hospitalization, who did not undergo follow-up for low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol assessment, and those who had not used statins prior to initial ASCVD incident. Moreover, those with renal failure, peripheral arterial disease or cerebrovascular disease were more likely to discontinue statins. It was also observed that discontinuation was common in patients who had to bear the cost of statins themselves in comparison to those who got it covered under insurance.