CardioExchange Archive

ProPublica, the nonprofit public interest journalism site, has once again focused on a heart-related topic (for previous ProPublica reports see our stories here and here). This time journalist Marshall Allen reports the results of a detailed investigation of Heart Check America, a chain of imaging centers featuring electron-beam CT calcium scans.

The story begins with an anecdote as the journalist and his wife visit one of the clinics in a Las Vegas office park to hear a sales pitch from the company. The salesman cites numerous well-known cases of celebrities who had died suddenly:

“You never know when it could happen. … Boom, you’re dead!” he exclaimed, slapping a desk for emphasis.

If only they had come to Heart Check America, Tom said ruefully. The company’s Electron Beam Tomography machines could have spotted the harmful build-up of calcium in their arteries, indicating they were at risk. The company scanned other organs, too. Perhaps a test could have helped Patrick Swayze, who died of pancreatic cancer, Tom said.

After 45 minutes, Tom got down to business. He pulled out a price sheet and urged us to go beyond the free scans and upgrade to a 10-year contract for annual imaging services, including heart, lung, bone-density and other scans. If we signed up immediately, the contract – usually $7,995 – could be ours for just $2,995 plus $199 in annual dues. Financing was available on the spot.

The ProPublica story continues with a detailed investigation of the company, outlining the company’s multiple clashes with state regulators, consumer watchdogs, and medical experts. The company, which was founded in 1992, had been in a long decline until 2008, when a new leader with a questionable background in timeshares, David Haddad, reinvigorated the company, adding new centers and employing “marketing techniques similar to those [he] had used in his timeshare businesses, calling consumers at home and offering them free heart scans to come listen to sales presentations.”

The article quotes several cardiologists, including William Zoghbi, president-elect of the ACC, who told ProPublica that calcium scans “are best suited to people who exhibit some possible indications of heart disease, such as high cholesterol, or who have a family history of premature coronary disease.”

Another cardiologist, Matthew Budoff, was listed by Heart Check America as the medical director of one of its sites, but told ProPublica that he had no affiliation with that particular unit (although he is the medical director of another Heart Check unit). “It’s a little disconcerting to hear that I’m affiliated with a site that I’m not familiar with,” said Budoff.

But Budoff continues to endorse EBCT, telling ProPublica that “he’s ‘very concerned’ that the controversy surrounding Heart Check America could dissuade people from getting scans that could identify heart disease.”

“We have to separate out a single provider from the test itself,” he said. “The test is good. The provider may not have done something proper.”

But the chairwoman of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says that “the scientific evidence is just not there one way or another,” and says that the company is “preying on the fears of the public.”