Safety Concerns Reported for Coronary Stents

At a recent European medical meeting, there were several reports about stent safety. Among the safety concerns was information showing increased risk of blood clots with the use of Boston Scientific’s Taxus stent and Johnson & Johnson’s Cypher stent. Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson are the two biggest stent makers. Stents are used to keep arteries open after blockages are cleared in medical procedures like angioplasty or heart bypass surgery. Unlike the original stents, which were bare metel sleeves, the new generation stents, like Taxus and Cypher, are coated with drugs. The drug coatings aim to prevent the formation of new blockages in the arteries.