“…whether their use should be restricted…”

But we’ve done it this way for a long time; it must be effective.

New drug-releasing stents used widely to keep clogged heart arteries open appear to increase the risk for potentially life-threatening blood clots more than older bare-metal versions, government investigators told an expert panel assessing the safety of the devices today.

But the blood clot risk from the tiny metal mesh struts, known as drug-eluting stents, appears relatively low and it remains unclear whether it translates into an excess risk for heart attacks or deaths, according to the Food and Drug Administration analysts.

Nevertheless, because some studies have suggested the increased risk of blood clots, known as thrombosis, may be causing thousands of excess heart attacks and deaths each year, it is urgent that experts determine whether their use should be restricted and patients who already have them should be treated longer with anti-clotting drugs, the agency officials said.

My opening statement is stupid because it lacks the logic involved in questioning and striving for something better. Yet people do this all the time and think nothing of it. Progress is good, but sometimes it requires a retrenchment to a prior point. Not necessarily with heart stents, but we must be open to ideas.