cardiologist

A researcher and early critic of Avandia told Congress yesterday that a GlaxoSmithKline executive threatened him with dire financial consequences when he raised concerns about the drug. Dr. John Buse, who testified before a House panel yesterday, told investigators that Glaxo executive Dr. Tadataka Yamada suggested that he should be responsible for the $4 billion drop in stock value Glaxo suffered after Avandia safety concerns came to light. In light of similar findings by …

So what's the story with Dr. Steven Nissen? The cardiologist who chairs the Cleveland Clinic's department of cardiovascular medicine made international headlines when he released a study suggesting that blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia posed greater heart health risks than expected. But this isn't the first time that Nissen has had a major impact on the drug industry. For years, Nissen has been an influential watchdog, respected by legislators on Capitol Hill and feared by pharmas. Article

Primary care costs much less than specialty care, but insurers aren't necessarily taking that into account, according to a new study. The study, by HHS's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, noted that while orthopedist fees averaged $210 per visit, and cardiologists $232 per visit, primary care physicians typically charge $100 per visit. But insurers still penalize primary care, requiring patients to pay an average of 20 percent of PCP costs out-of-pocket. Despite higher costs, …

It looks like high-profile cardiologist Dr. Martin Leon has been booted from the New England Journal of Medicine peer review panel for five years. His offense? He allegedly leaked results from COURAGE, a high-profile study comparing stents with drug therapy in treating stable heart disease. Article

> Watch out: the retail clinic industry is maturing, and now it has its own annual conference. Release

> CMS officials have said that they don't plan to let Medicare cover an implanted brain stimulation device for use in treating intractable depression. Article

> The state has stripped a Texas cardiologist of his license for …

In a complicated spat involving contract disputes, a fight for high-margin services and long-standing bad blood between two competing hospitals, a Georgia cardiologist backed by one of the facilities is suing to regain his privileges at the other. Dr. John Madonna Jr. has sued Satilla Regional Medical Center of Waycross, GA, asking the courts to force Satilla to re-establish his privileges there. Madonna had formerly worked under a contract held by Baptist Specialty Physicians (BSP), …

Recently there have been reports that blood clots can form within drug-coated stents designed to keep arteries clear. But cardiologists at the Transcather Cardiovascular Therapeutics show say patients are "far more are being killed each year by the failure of doctors to promptly clear coronary arteries and install stents when patients arrive at a hospital during a heart attack." Experts say that many studies have proven the superiority of stents to clot-busting drugs, and that the risk of …

A Texas cardiologist has been awarded $22.5 million in appeal to his his suit against three rival cardiologists and the Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas. A previous jury had found in favor of his charges of breach of contract, defamation, business disparagement, tortious interference with a contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress and awarded him a $366 million judgment, but the judge hearing the appeal reduced the award.

The dispute dates back to 1998, when a …

Elective angioplasties are a lucrative service that hospitals can offer to add money to their bottom line. In Wisconsin, however, two cardiologists at Sheboygan's Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center have very different views on how and where these procedures should be conducted. Tanvir Bajwa, a cardiologist at the hospital, performs the elective angioplasties--angioplasties carried out when a patient isn't having a heart attack. But his colleague Aamer Shabbir stopped conducting the …

> Tight school budgets have made school nurses all but obsolete. But 29 schools in Miami-Dade County are bring healthcare back to schools by providing health aids and traveling nurse practitioners to the campuses. Article

> The Cleveland clinic has cut ties with a cardiologist who didn't report his financial ties to a product he invented …