Following Bayer's withdrawal of cholesterol lowering drug Baycol from the U.S. market, heart patients have been flooding cardiologists' offices with concerns and questions about all cholesterol lowering drugs, known as statins. Most cardiologists have a standard reply; do not stop taking statins, they may save your life.

Doctors are trying to stop the hysteria caused by recent publicity linking primarily Baycol, but also other members of the statin family, to the potentially fatal muscle condition known as rhabdomyolysis. Experts say the number of rhabdomyolysis cases is negligible when compared with the number of patients who benefit from statin therapy.

Since Baycol's withdrawal, five statin drugs remain on the market. They include Pravachol, Mevacor, Lescol, Zocor, and Lipitor.

Recently, Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, asked the Food and Drug Administration to add stringent warnings on all statins. The group wants a warning label telling patients to stop taking statins upon the first signs of muscle weakness. The consumer advocacy group claims it has records of 81 deaths associated with Baycol.