I am based in the UK and my 70 year old mother was prescribed Lipitor. Up until then she had been in perfect health (healthier than me as I have rheumatoid arthritis) but the nurse at her clinic told her that her cholesterol was too high. My mum is a non-smoker, vegetarian and walks at least 2 miles every day with our dogs. Once she started taking the pills she was in agony with her joints, depressed, not sleeping and generally unwell. I had never seen her like this before, she was sitting in a chair crying with pain and depression. She has stopped these pills of her own accord - the nurse was still trying to force her to continue! - and luckily she has started to improve, although she does seem to have constant knee joint pain. I have investigated and been reading more and more about the terrible side effects of some of these medications. I have also since heard that the tests do not distinguish between "good" and "bad" cholesterol.
To summarise, I watched a healthy young-looking 70 year old start to become crippled. I do not believe that half the medications prescribed to people are necessary - we live in a pill-crazy culture. Thank God she stopped the pills in time!