Well, maybe drug-coated stents aren't so bad after all. Some doctors are now saying that the medical community overreacted to data on the clotting risks of the eluting stents. New data, plus a closer analysis of the old, is leading cardiologists to consider returning to the drug-coated stents for some patients.
But even if the clotting risks aren't as bad as originally thought, some doctors and researchers still say that only the sickest patients should get stents at all. Diet and drugs--including statins and beta blockers--should come first for most, they say. For high-risk patients, on the other hand, stents work. And drug-coated stents don't appear to be less safe than the bare ones. They are, however, less costly--which may continue to drive sales away.
- read the New York Times report