Woman's Severe Reaction to Cholesterol Drug Highlights Rare Risks

In November 2025, a 63-year-old South Carolina woman suffered a life-threatening reaction to the cholesterol-lowering drug rosuvastatin, which she had been taking for a year. The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, experienced severe muscle damage that prompted a massive immune response, causing her legs to swell from the hip to the ankle. She also suffered a fall due to the weakness in her legs.

Doctors at the hospital determined that the woman was experiencing a rare condition called rhabdomyolysis, which is estimated to affect roughly 26,000 Americans per year. When caught early, the survival rate is approximately 90 percent, but severe cases like this one can kill up to 59 percent of patients.

Statins, like the one the woman was taking, are not a common cause of rhabdomyolysis for the majority of the 40 million people in the US who take them. However, when the condition does occur in someone taking a statin, the medication is very often the culprit. For the average person taking a statin, the risk of developing rhabdomyolysis is very low, with an annual incidence of about one in a million.

The woman's case highlights the rare but severe side effects that some patients may experience when taking statins. Doctors were able to successfully treat her condition by discontinuing the statin, providing aggressive IV fluids to flush toxins from her system, and protecting her kidneys. After 12 days in the hospital, she was discharged, and her blood levels had improved.