Is Red Yeast Rice Safe with Lovastatin?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Never take red yeast rice while prescribed lovastatin or any other statin. Red yeast rice contains monacolin K, which is chemically identical to lovastatin. This combination creates a dangerous duplication of statin dosing with unpredictable and uncontrolled drug levels.
Why this interaction occurs
Red yeast rice naturally contains monacolin K (lovastatin), an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. Taking it alongside prescription lovastatin results in an uncontrolled and additive statin dose, dramatically increasing the risk of severe myopathy, rhabdomyolysis, liver toxicity, and renal failure. Supplement doses are not standardized or regulated.
Evidence
Evidence level: strong.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 26,074 reports mentioning Lovastatin. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Lovastatin + supplement combination on this page.
FAERS reports are voluntary and cannot prove that a drug caused an event. Do not use report counts to assess the safety of this specific drug-supplement pair.
Frequently asked questions
Related interactions
All Red Yeast Rice interactions → · All Lovastatin interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.