No matter how many studies the medical community does, it cannot come up with a solid opinion for or against drug coated stents. The New England Journal of Medicine is out with the latest and it covers five articles and two commentaries on the subject.
For starters, patients who get the new drug coated stents need to take a blood thinner for a year. Next, stents are sometimes being used for patients who should get by-pass surgery. Bare metal stents may be less likely to cause clotting later. Diabetics may be more likely to die when drug-coated stents are used over bare metal stents. But the doctor who ran the diabetic trials says that may be due to chance.
So, The New York Times headline on the medical reports was "Safety Of Drug-Coated Stents Tough To Assess, Report Says". The Wall Street Journal headline reads "Coated Stents Gain Ground In Risk Trials"
The stent market brings in about $6 billion a year, but the large companies that supply them, particularly Boston Scientific (BSX) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) say that the market has been flat to down. The concern about drug-coated stents is driving more doctors to put in the less expensive bare metal variety. Bad for business.
One thing is certain. While the debate drags on the shares of Boston Scientific are likely to remain basement dwellers. Two years ago, the shares were $33. They now trade around $17.
Hard to see that improving anytime soon.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks