One of the most popular drugs in the nation, Lipitor, has officially gone generic, making it much less expensive for patients with high cholesterol to receive treatment, reports HealthDay.

The drug, known as atorvastatin, is one of many medications with a recently expired patent that has gone generic. Generic treatments can sell for up to 80 percent lower than the brand name cost, according to the Wall Street Journal, which means Lipitor is now more widely accessible to a number of patients in need.

“Atorvastatin is a very good medication and quite effective at lowering LDL cholesterol,” Dr. Robert Ostfeld, New York City cardiologist, told the news source. “I think that having a generic will be a wonderful addition because, unfortunately, some of our patients have to make the very painful decision between paying the rent and taking their medication and any time we can reduce the cost without sacrificing efficacy, that’s a wonderful thing.”

The source reports that many people do not take this high cholesterol treatment properly, taking it less frequently or not at all in order to save money. Doctors hope that the move to generic will reduce this misuse of the the medication.

Other statin brands that have recently gone generic include Zocor, Pravachol and Mevacor.

More than 21 million prescriptions for Lipitor were dispensed from January to June of this year, totaling close to $4 billion, reports IMS Health.