February 13th, 2014
Roman DeSanctis, One of the Greats, Retires
Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM and Roman DeSanctis, MD
Harlan Krumholz interviews Roman DeSanctis, one of the most influential physicians of his career, upon his retirement.
February 13th, 2014
FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Against Approval of Cangrelor
Larry Husten, PHD
The FDA’s Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee today recommended against the approval of cangrelor, the investigational new antiplatelet drug from the Medicines Company. In a 7-2 vote, the panel first rejected an indication for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events including stent thrombosis in patients undergoing PCI. The panel also voted unanimously to reject a second indication, for […]
February 11th, 2014
FDA Investigating Heart Failure Risk Linked to Saxagliptin
Larry Husten, PHD
The FDA said today that it is conducting an investigation of a possible increased risk for heart failure associated with the diabetes drug saxagliptin. Saxagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor, is marketed by AstraZeneca as Onglyza and Kombiglyze XR. (AstraZeneca recently completed the purchase of all rights to the drug from its manufacturer, Bristol Myers-Squibb.) The investigation […]
February 10th, 2014
Is Fraudulent Science Criminal?
John Henry Noble Jr, BA, MA, MSW, PhD
John Henry Noble, Jr., offers his perspective on the issues raised by Richard Smith’s blog post “Should Scientific Fraud Be a Criminal Offence?”, which appeared in the BMJ in December 2013.
February 10th, 2014
Selections from Richard Lehman’s Literature Review: February 10th
Richard Lehman, BM, BCh, MRCGP
This week’s topics include two reports of cobalt-induced heart failure, a comparison of CABG and PCI, and more.
February 10th, 2014
FDA Reviewers Deliver Split Opinion on Cangrelor
Larry Husten, PHD
FDA reviewers presented two dramatically different views of The Medicines Company’s investigational new drug cangrelor. One reviewer says the drug should not be approved without a new trial and even states that the CHAMPION trials “were conducted unethically” and provide sufficient reason to “refuse approval…on that fact alone.” But two other reviewers recommend approval. On Wednesday the FDA’s Cardiovascular […]
February 5th, 2014
Eric Topol to Be AT&T’s Chief Medical Advisor
Larry Husten, PHD
AT&T announced today that it has appointed cardiologist Eric Topol as its Chief Medical Advisor. The company said he will “impact the design, development and delivery of AT&T’s healthcare IT solutions, connecting the healthcare ecosystem to enhance health outcomes and care delivery processes for patients and their caregivers.” In addition to his duties at AT&T, Topol will continue to serve as […]
February 4th, 2014
Blood Pressure Trajectory Over 25 Years Predicts Atherosclerosis Risk
Larry Husten, PHD
Everyone knows that blood pressure is one of the most important measurements of cardiovascular risk. Less well known is that most studies of blood pressure have relied on single or isolated measurements of blood pressure. Few studies have even attempted to examine the significance of blood pressure patterns over a long period of time. Now, […]
February 3rd, 2014
Intensive BP, Lipid Lowering Does Not Protect Against Cognitive Decline in Diabetics
Nicholas Downing, MD
Intensive treatment of blood pressure or cholesterol does not slow the rate of cognitive decline in adults with type 2 diabetes, according to a substudy of the ACCORD trial published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Some 3000 older adults with poorly controlled diabetes, high cardiovascular risk, and no evidence of cognitive impairment were assigned to one […]
February 3rd, 2014
The Not So Sweet Facts About Sugar
Larry Husten, PHD
A new study offers a broad overview of the use of sugar in the U.S. diet and its consequent health implications. The good news is that the growth in sugar intake appears to have stopped and may even have slightly declined. The bad news is that people still consume way too much sugar and that […]
