• Julia L Newton, Joseph Hamed, Helen Williams, Matt Kearney, Alison M Metcalfe, and Gary A Ford.
• Faculty of Medical Sciences, Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4LP, UK.
• Br. Med. Bull. 2023 Jun 21; 146 (1): 192619-26.

BackgroundWe sought to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on lipid-lowering therapy prescribing as a potential cause of the excess cardiovascular mortality seen post-pandemic in England. We examined temporal changes over 3 years in the prescribing of high-intensity and non-high-intensity statin therapy and ezetimibe.Sources Of DataWe utilized data available via the National Health Service (NHS) Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) Information Services Data Warehouse, extracting 3 monthly data from October 2018 to December 2021 on high- and low-intensity statin and ezetimibe prescribing, (commencement, cessation or continuation) through each time period of study and those before, and after, the period of interest.Areas Of AgreementOptimizing lipid management is a key component of the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease, stroke and dementia.Areas Of ControversyThe COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown have seen a significant reduction in prescribing of lipid-lowering therapies. If cardiovascular risk is not to worsen in the forthcoming years, urgent action is needed to ensure that the impact of the pandemic upon optimization of cholesterol and the historical undertreatment of cholesterol is reversed and improved.Areas Timely For Developing ResearchPrescription data available via NHSBSA can support our understanding of the implications of policy and behaviour and highlight the impact of guidelines in practise.Growing PointsUnderstanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon cholesterol management and the opportunities for newer lipid-lowering therapies delivered using a population health approach have the potential to enhance lipid-lowering and improve cardiovascular mortality and morbidity and reduce health inequalities.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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