If a patient on statin therapy develops signs of liver injury, what action should the nurse take?

• A. Continue therapy and monitor liver enzymes
• B. Increase the statin dose
• C. Hold statin therapy and notify the provider
• D. Treat with acetaminophen and continue the statin

Answer: (C)

Statins can cause hepatotoxicity, so when a patient on this therapy shows signs of liver injury—such as fatigue, right upper quadrant discomfort, jaundice, dark urine, or abnormal liver enzyme tests—the immediate action is to hold the statin and notify the provider. Stopping the drug promptly helps prevent further liver damage while the clinician assesses the extent of injury and decides the next steps, which may include permanently stopping the statin or restarting at a lower dose after recovery.

Continuing therapy or increasing the dose would risk worsening liver injury, and using acetaminophen to treat the symptoms is inappropriate because acetaminophen itself can damage the liver and it does not address the underlying injury from the statin. The right course is to suspend the medication and initiate medical evaluation with liver function testing.