Unified approach elevates care quality for CV patients
Varying entities—
regulatory and legislative bodies, cardiovascular associations and publications, physicians, academic institutions and healthcare facilities—all seek a unified, substantive focus in delivering care to patients with cardiovascular disease; most importantly, at the heart of this focus must always be the elevation in the quality of care for individual patients.

In a joint effort to protect patients, the editors of the New England Journal of Medicine, along with many other physicians and organizations, have filed a “friends of the court” brief with the U.S. Supreme Court about the upcoming preemption case, Wyeth v. Levine.

If the court rules in favor of Wyeth, the decision could protect drugmakers from liability if their FDA-approved products prove faulty. The NEJM editors argue that drug companies have withheld key information from the FDA and have negotiated against stricter label warnings, while continuing to market unsafe drugs. Using Vioxx and Trasylol as examples, the editors suggest this decision could be detrimental to the quality of patient care.

In a recent clinical study, researchers from Duke have found that using a radial approach to PCI is associated with a procedural success rate similar to the femoral approach, and has lower rates of bleeding and vascular complications, even among high-risk groups. The researchers said that the results suggest that wider adoption of r-PCI in clinical practice may improve the safety of PCI patients.

Finally, in a growing movement toward transparency, Stanford School of Medicine decided it will no longer accept support from pharmaceutical or device companies for specific programs in CME, since its officials said that “industry-directed funding may compromise the integrity of the programs for practicing physicians.” Stanford is echoing efforts by Congress and the American Medical Association, saying that it does not want its educational activities, which will impact patient care, to be influenced by marketing from vendors.

In the upcoming print issue of Cardiovascular Business, the CEO of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), Dr. Jack Lewin, has written his first column in a series for “The ACC Corner.” In this issue, he emphasizes the need for quality care and what the association is doing to generate much-need healthcare reform.

If you are curious about attending any upcoming association meetings, which will further discuss how to better treat cardiovascular disease, please visit our Healthcare TechGuide.

On these topics, or any others, please feel free to contact me.