Simvastatin Therapy for Moderate and Severe COPD (STATCOPE)

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Male and female subjects, 40-80 years of age.

2. Clinical diagnosis of at least moderate COPD as defined by the GOLD criteria:

   1. Postbronchodilator FEV1(forced expiratory volume at one second)/FVC(forced vital capacity) < 70%,
   2. Postbronchodilator FEV1 (forced expiratory volume at one second) < 80% predicted, with or without chronic symptoms (i.e., cough, sputum production).
3. Cigarette consumption of 10 pack-years or more. Patients may or may not be active smokers.

4. Must meet one or more of the following 4 conditions

   1. Be using supplemental oxygenate
   2. Receiving a course of systemic corticosteroids and/or antibiotics for respiratory problems in the past year,
   3. Visiting an Emergency Department for a COPD exacerbation within the past year, or
   4. Being hospitalized for a COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) exacerbation within the past year
5. Willingness to make return visits and availability by telephone for duration of study.
6. Free of active coronary disease
7. Subject with expected life expectancy > 36 months

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Patients who:

   1. are on statin drugs.
   2. should be on statins based on established risk stratification using the ATP-III (Adult Treatment Panel) to determine 10 year risk.
2. Documented history of active coronary heart disease, such as unstable angina, prior myocardial infarction, stroke, symptomatic peripheral vascular or carotid artery disease, or congestive heart failure within the past 3 months.
3. A diagnosis of asthma.
4. The presence of a diagnosis other than COPD that results in the patient being either medically unstable, or having a predicted life expectancy < 3 years.
5. Special patient groups: prisoners, pregnant women, institutionalized patients
6. Women who are at risk of becoming pregnant during the study (pre-menopausal) and who refuse to use acceptable birth control (hormone-based oral or barrier contraceptive) for the duration of the study.
7. Woman using estradiol compounds for contraception. Postmenopausal women on estradiol compounds for hormone replacement therapy will be allowed into the trial.
8. Participants otherwise meeting the inclusion criteria will not be enrolled until they are a minimum of four weeks from their most recent acute exacerbation.
9. A clinical diagnosis of bronchiectasis defined as production of > one-half cup of purulent sputum/day.
10. Participants using niacin, azole antifungals (itraconazole, ketoconazole, posaconazole), fibric acid derivatives, erythromycin, clarithromycin, telithromycin, diltiazem, amlodipine , ranolazine,HIV protease inhibitors (such as indinavir), amiodarone, gemfibrozil, cyclosporine, verapamil, danazol, nefazodone, and red yeast rice extracts are excluded
11. Active liver disease. Active liver disease is defined as ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase) as greater than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal.
12. Patients with renal failure defined by serum creatinine greater than 3mg/dl.
13. Alcoholism. Alcoholism is defined as > 35 drinks per week. A drink is defined as one bottle of beer, one 8-ounce glass of wine, or one ounce of hard liquor.
14. Hypersensitivity to HMG CoA (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A) reductase inhibitors. Hypersensitivity is defined as an allergic reaction to statin, prior history of myopathy, rhabdomyolysis or previous intolerance to statin use.
15. Participants drinking greater than 4 cups (1qt) of grapefruit juice per day.
16. Participants drinking greater than 3 cups of green tea per day.
17. Diabetics will be excluded. Diabetics are defined by:

1. A CURRENT physician diagnosis of diabetes OR 2. CURRENT use of diabetic meds OR 3. Elevated HbA1c > 6.5% 18. The discretion of the Principal Investigator that the potential participant will not be a reliable study subject to complete the study requirements.