Will the COURAGE trial change practice? Unlikely. It’s the same idea as watchful waiting, patients generally like to have interventions done – despite the (lack of) evidence:
Listen, one of the arteries feeding your heart is clogged up with plaque. I know you’ve got a little bit of chest pain, but we’ve got good evidence that clearing out the artery and putting in a stent isn’t going to do you much good over the long haul. So I’m just going to write you a few prescriptions and send you home. Okay? Have a nice day.Despite the recent results of Courage, a large trial showing the limits of stents, that’s not a very likely conversation between cardiologists and their patients, according to doctors on a conference call we listened to this morning.
Related posts:
- PSA and prostate cancer screening
- COURAGE embargo: Sabotage?
- New discharge planning strategy: Paying people to go home
- Do doctors who use social media prescribe more medications?
- Here’s an idea, spend more on doctors
- Can patients and doctors handle the truth?
- "We are such a country of enablers"
KevinMD.com on Facebook
{ 1 comment }
I wonder if international sales will drop more quickly or maybe other countries never fell in love with stents as much as we did in the US.
Comments on this entry are closed.