He is on Pravachol for his cholesterol, which is now normal. I read that it is a known carcinogen. Most of the cholesterol floating in the blood comes not from outside foods but from the liver's production of it. Other statin drugs are Baycol, Mevacor, Zocor, Lescol and Lipitor. No reported human cases of cancer have arisen from it.
Most people do stay on statins for life.
If your husband wants to take a holiday and if his doctor agrees, he can go off it for a few weeks and then have his blood cholesterol tested. I'll bet it will have zoomed upward. These drugs have other beneficial effects. They appear to delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease. They protect bones from osteoporosis.