Livalo has a number of things going against it and at this point I cannot think of a single reason I would prescribe it unless someone can show it to have unique benefits as compared to more established statins.
Any Advantages Or Is Livalo Just One More Statin? | DrPullen.com – Medical and Health Blog.
Some red yeast rice products contain substantial amounts of monacolin K, which is chemically identical to the active ingredient in the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin. These products may lower blood cholesterol levels and can cause the same types of side effects and drug interactions as lovastatin.
Other red yeast rice products contain little or no monacolin K. It is not known whether these products have any effect on blood cholesterol levels.
Some red yeast rice products contain a contaminant called citrinin, which can cause kidney failure. In a 2011 analysis of red yeast rice products sold as dietary supplements, 4 of 11 products were found to contain this contaminant.
via Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction | NCCAM.
Personally, I’m sticking with a statin.
The diabetes warning has been rumored as a possibility since the findings from the JUPITER trial of rosuvastatin revealed an unexpected 27% increase in new onset diabetes among patients randomized to the statin.That finding was especially perplexing because JUPITER was a study of statins in patients who had no history of cardiovascular disease, the so-called healthy patient trial. Moreover, based on the JUPITER results, the FDA approved rosuvastatin for primary prevention.The FDA said hyperglycemia was also observed among patients treated with 40-mg atorvastatin in a substudy of PROVE-IT TIMI 22, and a meta-analysis of data from 13 statin trials “reported that statin therapy was associated with a 9% increased risk for incident diabetes.”
Among patients with atrial fibrillation, those who are taking a statin may be less likely to die during follow-up than those who are not taking a statin, a retrospective study showed.
Interesting report. Do note the study limitations.
I stumbled across this article while evaluating a persistent CPK elevation in an applicant with HLD and other CHD risk factors.
Effect of Statin Adherence on Cerebrovascular Disease in Primary Prevention
Non-adherence to statins was prevalent with just 55% of patients exposed to ≥80% of the medications during follow-up.
lifeunderwriter.net 
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