Malcolm Kendrick

Malcolm Kendrick is a Scottish doctor and author of The Great Cholesterol Con (2008) and Doctoring Data (2014). He graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1981, has been a general practitioner for over 25 years, and has worked with the European Society of Cardiology.

The Great Cholesterol Con documents what the author perceived as the misguided use of statins in primary care. He cites evidence from many trials and World Health Organisation data to show that statins do not increase life expectancy overall, and do not prevent heart disease in patients without cardiovascular symptoms. The book states that widely varying levels of cholesterol are inversely correlated with deaths from heart disease, and correlated with cancer mortality. His findings show that within a reasonable range, higher total cholesterol is associated with lower cancer mortality, but lower rates of deaths from heart disease—the opposite outcome that one would expect if cholesterol were a causative agent for coronary heart disease.

A summary of his thesis can be found on the Health Answers website.

Doctoring Data deals with a wide range of subjects related to the use and misuse of medical statistics. The aim of the book is to give the reader the basic statistical tools and understanding needed to distinguish between sound medical advice and scaremongering headlines. This is done using historical examples such as the Women's Health Initiativestudy to explain concepts such as relative and absolute risk. Using this knowledge of risks he then picks apart studies backing up commonly held medical beliefs, including the association between blood pressure and overall mortality, and BMI and overall mortality.