November 18th, 2013
Controversy Erupts Over Accuracy of Cardiovascular Risk Calculator for Guidelines
Larry Husten, PHD
In the face of a highly critical story in the New York Times by Gina Kolata about the new cardiovascular guidelines, authors of the guidelines and leaders of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) defended the value and integrity of the guidelines. The Times story claims that the cardiovascular risk calculator used to assess individual risk in the new guidelines is deeply […]
May 16th, 2013
Salt Report from IOM Sparks Much Heat, Only a Little Light
Larry Husten, PHD
An Institute of Medicine report on salt earlier this week sparked a lot of controversy. The report concludes that there’s no evidence to support current efforts to lower salt consumption to less than 2300 mg/day. Unfortunately, the press coverage offered little insight into the science behind the issue. On the Knight Science Journalism Tracker blog, […]
August 6th, 2012
DOJ Investigating Interventional Cardiology Services at HCA
Larry Husten, PHD
The hospital giant HCA has disclosed that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami is investigating the company and has “requested information on reviews assessing the medical necessity of interventional cardiology services provided at any Company facility (other than peer reviews).” Following its own preliminary investigation, the company said it was aware of such reviews in about 10 […]