Decline in drug-coated stent use at top cardiac centers

In a page one story, The Wall Street Journal reports that some leading cardiac centers are cutting back "drastically" on their use of drug-coated stents. Cardiologists at Cedars-Sinai, Brigham and Women's and other top centers are shifting back to the bare metal variety based on concerns about the long-term risks of blood clots associated with drug-eluting models. Although statistics show the use of the newer models has not changed much overall, observers suspect the news could be early warning of changes ahead for the market for drugcoated stents, which is dominated by Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson. Shares of both companies fell in early trading this morning as investors reacted to the news.

- see this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

PLUS: Forbes suggests that the impact on Boston Scientific's stent sales may be minor--the risk of clots is in line with the clinical trials data that got the stents approved in the first place. Article