Now a new research study has shown that red yeast rice was as effective as a statin in reducing LDL cholestrol. Study Finds Red Yeast Rice Efficacy Comparable to Statin appears at modernmedicine.com. The article summarizes the research thusly:

Steven C. Halbert, M.D., of University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia, and colleagues randomized 43 adults with dyslipidemia, who previously had discontinued statin therapy because of myalgia, to 12-week blinded regimens of either red yeast rice (2,400 mg twice daily) or pravastatin (20 mg twice daily). The researchers found that LDL cholesterol levels decreased by 27 percent in the pravastatin group and by 30 percent in the red yeast rice group.

The original research, Tolerability of Red Yeast Rice (2,400 mg Twice Daily) Versus Pravastatin (20 mg Twice Daily) in Patients With Previous Statin Intolerance by Halbert et al, is an open access paper appearing at The American Journal of Cardiology,  Volume 105, Issue 2, Pages 198-204 (15 January 2010).

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According to Dr. Mercola (who is a published and licensed medical practitioner), who wrote Why You Should Avoid Red Rice Yeast:

The “active” compounds in red yeast rice are known as monacolins, and are substances known to inhibit cholesterol synthesis. One type of monacolin, “monacolin K,” is also known as mevinolin or lovastatin. Lovastatin, as you might now recognize, is the first statin drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it goes by the brand names of Mevacor and Altocor. So if you’re taking red yeast rice in the hopes of avoiding a statin drug — surprise! They’re essentially the same drug. And if you are concerned about your cholesterol levels, taking a drug, even a “natural” drug like red yeast rice, should be your absolute last resort. And when I say last resort, I’m saying the odds are very high, greater than 1000 to 1, that you don’t need drugs to lower your cholesterol. To put it another way, among the more than 20,000 patients who have come to my clinic, only four or five of them truly needed these drugs, as they had genetic challenges that required it.

So it would seem that it is actually pretty effective, but possible dangerous–especially since no prescription of other medical intervention is needed to start using it.

More on Monascus purpureus:

Red yeast rice at Mayo Clinic

Red Yeast Rice at Medicine.net

Red Yeast Rice info from NIH

Fermentation of Monascus Purpureus on Agri-by-Products to Make Colorful and Functional Bacterial Cellulose (Nata)

Monascus purpureus mutant and its use in preparing yellow pigment