August 10th, 2011
Rethinking Trilipix — And the Process for Approving Lipid-Modifying Drugs
Sanjay Kaul, MD
Editor’s Note: In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine, three members of the FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee (Allison Goldfine, Sanjay Kaul, and William Hiatt) offer their perspective on the May 19 committee meeting to review the controversial ACCORD-Lipid Study. Here, one of those authors, Sanjay Kaul, provides his […]
August 10th, 2011
Rivaroxaban Compared with Warfarin in 14,000 AF Patients
Larry Husten, PHD
In ROCKET AF (Rivaroxaban Once Daily Oral Direct Factor Xa Inhibition Compared with Vitamin K Antagonism for Prevention of Stroke and Embolism Trial in Atrial Fibrillation), researchers tested rivaroxaban (20 mg/day) against warfarin in 14,264 patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). The results of the trial, which were first presented last November at the American […]
August 9th, 2011
New Study Finds Wide Variation Among Hospitals in Diagnostic Yield for Angiography
Larry Husten, PHD
Last year a report in the New England Journal of Medicine from the National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) raised concerns about the low diagnostic yield for diagnostic coronary angiography. Now a new analysis of the NCDR registry appearing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology finds a great deal of variability among hospitals […]
August 9th, 2011
Will ISCHEMIA Tell Us More than COURAGE? PART II: Banking on Eight Years of Equipoise
Judith Hochman, L. David Hillis, MD and Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA
(Continued from Part I: Aiming to Beat Bias with Blinding) On August 1, 2011, the Langone Medical Center at New York University announced that the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has provided a grant to fund the ISCHEMIA study of an invasive strategy versus optimal medical management in patients with stable coronary artery disease […]
August 8th, 2011
Will ISCHEMIA Tell Us More Than COURAGE? Part I: Aiming to Beat Bias with Blinding
Judith Hochman, L. David Hillis, MD and Richard A. Lange, MD, MBA
On August 1, 2011, New York University announced that the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute would fund the ISCHEMIA study of an invasive strategy versus optimal medical management in patients with stable coronary artery disease and moderate-to-severe ischemia. We welcome the members of the study Executive Committee, chaired by Dr. Judith Hochman, to answer […]
August 8th, 2011
Bernadine Healy, First Woman to Head the NIH, Dead of Brain Tumor
Larry Husten, PHD
Bernadine Healy, a cardiologist who was the first woman to head the NIH, died on Saturday from complications of a brain tumor. She was married to cardiac surgeon Floyd Loop, a former CEO of the Cleveland Clinic. She had two daughters, one from a previous marriage. Healy was born in 1944 and grew up in […]
August 7th, 2011
Help Cover ESC for CardioExchange
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM
Ever dream of being a writer living in Paris? Here’s your chance.
August 5th, 2011
USA Today Finds Disparity Between Hospital Performance and Public Perception
Larry Husten, PHD
Patients may think they’re going to a high-quality hospital when in fact they’re not, according to an analysis of Medicare data appearing in USA Today, by reporters Steve Sternberg and Christopher Schnaars. The USA Today website also contains an interactive graphic with a user-friendly interface, to help readers compare hospital death rates and readmission rates […]
August 4th, 2011
Yale Receives $2.5 Million from Medtronic for Independent Evaluation of rhBMP-2
Larry Husten, PHD
Responding to intense criticism from the government, the press, and the academic community, Medtronic announced that it was giving $2.5 million to Yale researchers to oversee independent reviews of the safety and effectiveness of rhBMP-2 (Infuse). Criticism of the spinal growth product was the sole topic of the June issue of the Spine Journal. Yale’s […]
August 4th, 2011
Easy Come, Easy Go? ESC to Review Dronedarone’s Role in AF Guidelines
Larry Husten, PHD
Less than a year after speeding into the European Society of Cardiology’s atrial fibrillation guidelines with a class 1 recommendation, the role of dronedarone (Multaq, Sanofi) in the treatment of AF will be reconsidered. “The ESC will produce a focused update of the AF Guidelines when the full results of PALLAS have been published and regulatory […]