Can newly-released NEJM data put to bed doubts over long-term benefits of drug-eluting stents?
Both J&J and Boston Scientific have been quick this month to release their take on a whole raft of NEJM-published studies into the long-term use of drug-eluting stents (DESs). Although the benefits of DESs have been shown in copious amounts of R&D data, questions continue to be raised over their true long-term benefits. Do they really hold much advantage over their bare metal counterparts? Are they really safe in the long-term? Are they even worth the cost? Some of these issues have been raised in the NEJM articles, which feature R&D data presented at December’s key FDA panel meeting that was held to discuss to allay safety concerns over the technology. J&J and Boston Scientific, who are at loggerheads competitively, are at least in agreement on one issue – that DESs match their bare metal stent counterparts long-term in terms of death, myocardial infarction and stent thrombosis, when used according to product labelling. Away from the thorny issue of DESs, Boston Scientific and Abbott
