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Statins in 'healthy' patients: Blumenthal vs Redberg

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The Wall Street Journal’s debate, which pitted Dr Rita Redberg against Dr Roger Blumenthal on the issue of statins for "healthy" patients, raises numerous questions including how to define a healthy patient. Does feeling healthy constitute being healthy?

What are your thoughts on this debate?

See:

Should Healthy People Take Cholesterol Drugs to Prevent Heart Disease?

To prescribe or not to prescribe: That is the statin question, experts debate

Comments

Thanks very much for your comments.  I certainly intended to speak against Dr Redberg’s position since I disagree with it and appreciate that you disagree with me and agree with Dr Redberg.  The blog is an opinion piece. As to the facts/da... More »
Posted by DrSethdb Jan 27, 2012 at 06:02 PM, EDT
It is up to the physician to advise, based upon the most up to date information he/she has.  If pharma hides the truth, how is it possible to be a "learned intermediary"?  That being said, anyone with a sufficient number of risk factor... More »
Posted by Lowellf Jan 27, 2012 at 01:19 PM, EDT
Dr. Redberg's approach is a regreshing entry in a fairly difficult decision making process.  I am asking each of the readers whether or not they take statins.  Do they exercise.  What is their diet like?  What is their stress levels li... More »
Posted by Lyn Jan 27, 2012 at 11:16 AM, EDT
The first posting was incomplete and forwarded in error. That portion is correct but  what also needs to be stated as the Blog states, among many good points, that its intent is provide balanced views. The actual debate did provide that.  What I... More »
Posted by agile Jan 26, 2012 at 06:13 PM, EDT
About Dr Seth Bilazarian
Seth Bilazarian MD has been a Clinical and Interventional Cardiologist at Pentucket Medical Associates in Massachusetts since 1993. He is board certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiovascular Medicine, Nuclear Cardiology, Vascular Ultrasound, Interventional Cardiology, and Vascular and Endovascular Medicine.

Dr Bilazarian performs coronary and peripheral interventions at Lahey Clinic and Massachusetts General Hospital. He has been an investigator in the interventional laboratory for new devices including drug-eluting stents, distal protection devices, imaging devices (OCT and InfraRed), and anticoagulant pharmacotherapy.

Dr Bilazarian is an active participant in clinical trials in congestive heart failure, hypertension, coronary disease prevention, prediabetes management, anemia, atrial fibrillation, and anticoagulation/antiplatelet therapies in the outpatient setting. He has authored numerous papers and book chapters in clinical cardiology. He was appointed as a physician advisor to the circulatory device panel of the FDA in 2008.
About this blog
My intent is to create a forum for dialogue on issues pertinent to private practice cardiology around topics such as:

  • Integration of new data and guidelines on inpatient and outpatient practice in clinical and interventional cardiology
  • Practice approaches to the extra clinical issues in dealing with managed care insurers
  • Strategies for navigating the restrictions of pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) on pharmacologic therapies for our patients
  • Experiences with restrictions on testing and imaging
The video blog (VLOG) will provide an opportunity to share broadly different approaches to the common conundrums we face in caring for patients. My hope is that this forum will provide useful data points for practice outside of tertiary and academic centers and a look inside community hospitals and physician’s practice patterns in the office, starting with mine.