Doctors Rethink Widespread Use of Heart Stents

Article in the New York Times — Doctors Rethink Widespread Use of Heart Stents, by Barnaby J. Feder:

    The medical community is having second thoughts about stents.

    And stents are a big business, generating $6 billion a year in sales for their makers
    and thousands of dollars in fees for each procedure performed by the specialists
    implanting them.

    But now stent sales are falling and some doctors are rethinking their faith in the
    devices, driven by emerging evidence that the newest and most common type —
    drug-coated stents — can sometimes cause potentially fatal blood clots months or
    even years after they are implanted.

The article also notes that the FDA has stated it will hold hearings in December on whether to issue new heart stent safety guidelines.

BGS