"Statin" may not be a word everyone is familiar with, but it represents an everyday occurrence for 40 million Americans. Statins are a class of drug, headlined by Pfizer's (PFE 0.32%) Lipitor, that are used for lowering cholesterol and maintaining good heart health. If new guidelines from the American Heart Association are followed, millions of Americans are about to get a more personal experience with these drugs.
The New England Journal of Medicine highlighted the change from the old system to a new online calculator that takes in to account other contributing heart disease factors, including obesity and smoking. Doctors have pushed back, believing it will lead to overprescribing, as it is estimated an additional 13 million Americans fall under the new rules, increasing the total eligible patient population to half of all U.S. citizens between ages 40 and 75.
In this segment from Friday's Market Checkup, Motley Fool health-care analysts David Williamson and Michael Douglass discuss the new regulations and which drug stocks, if any, are poised to benefit from a 30% increase in the patient population.
