Dear Healthcare Professional:
Recent headlines may have raised questions about drug-eluting stents (DES).
The fact is, DES remains an FDA-approved treatment. More than 6 million cardiovascular patients worldwide have been treated with DES.
A series of rigorous studies of Boston Scientific's TAXUS® Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System shows
that patients treated with the TAXUS drug-eluting stent had the same or lower chance of major heart
attack and death - and half the chance of needing a repeat procedure to treat restenosis - as patients
treated with bare-metal stents. As the leading maker of DES, we are dedicated to providing
the information you need to help your patients make decisions about their treatment. That's why we
informed the FDA and physicians of a small increase in the risk of late stent thrombosis - even though
there is no evidence that this increase leads to negative outcomes. It's also why we have a website
where you can access in-depth analysis and data.
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