Friday, October 13, 2006

"Our romance with technology..."

Great phrase (and now blog headline) from a very recent editorial by Sanjay Kaul, M.D. and George A. Diamond, M.D., F.A.C.C. which is posted at www.cardiosource.com. The authors discuss the findings of major studies on the use of drug-eluding stents (DES), and they question the efficacy, risk and economics of DES use over that of bare metal stents. This is a great read and, hopefully, will generate much discussion on the more general issue of "our romance with technology..." and the closely aligned off-label use issue. An excerpt from the editorial:

"The FDA statement that 'coronary DES remain safe and effective when used for the FDA-approved indications' ignores the nearly 80% off-label use of these devices in the 'real world.' Although the FDA does not have the mandate to impact medical practice, it should nevertheless leverage its relationships with medical professional societies and device sponsors to collaborate on the development and implementation of new tools and programs that help mitigate unnecessary risk and promulgate best practice standards."

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