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Cardiac Specialist Strongly Against The Idea Of A Polypill

September 4th, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Opinion
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The tweet said that experts were debating the merits of a polypill? I had to click that link.

Yes. I was right; there were actually “eminent” cardiologists suggesting that a pill containing 4 different medicines (a statin, aspirin, beta-blocker and an ACE-inhibitor) “might change the face of cardiovascular medicine.”

The direct quote from Dr. Salim Yusef, one of the most eminent heart doctors, went like this:

“We have to think of the polypill not as a pill, but as part of a strategy to completely change our approach to prevention,” said Yusuf. “Instead of saying lifestyle first and drugs next, why don’t we say that drugs are the basis, then get the patients contemplating prevention, and then get them to modify their lifestyle. Maybe that will work, because the reverse strategy hasn’t.”

Maybe it was jet lag? Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*

The Problem Of Drug Extinction

May 24th, 2010 by DrWes in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, True Stories
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Doctors are all-familiar with marketing efforts to promote new drugs, but once the new drugs displace older drugs in the medical marketplace, who serves as advocates for the continued manufacturing of older FDA-approved drugs?

In a short answer: No one.

For those of us dealing in cardiac arrhythmia management, this presents difficult challenges for patient care if people are unable to take the newer drugs due to side effects. These patients no longer have a fall-back option to turn to for medical therapy when the older drugs have become extinct on the marketplace. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*