Generally, doctors' formal education in school & residency is to sharpen skills of diagnosis. Then, all too often, the education regarding treatment is cleverly administered by the BigPharma.

Read excellent, related articles, “Guess Who’s Educating Your Doctor?” by Tara Parker-Pope, and “Is the niacin-toxicity fear overblown?” and “Niacin: Myths and Facts” by Dr. William Davis, and “Fact or Factoid? The Niacin-Danger Case” by Abram Hoffer MD PhD

The piece “Fact or Factoid? The Niacin-Danger Case” by Abram Hoffer MD explains the process of info manipulation very well. The other www.cholesterolscore.com articles you mentioned also paint an accurate, but hopeless, picture. Buyer (patients) beware.