Healthcare is having a hard time with basic nomenclature, said Dirk Stanley, MD, MPH, CMIO and hospitalist at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass., speaking to CMIO about his concerns with the costly problem in the current U.S. healthcare system.

Physicians continue to turn to warfarin as an anticoagulant for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients despite the availability of newer drugs, according to an unpublished analysis from the PINNACLE-AF Registry. The analysis, based on more than 121,000 unique AF patients in 2011, found among those prescribed anticoagulants, 87.4 percent were on warfarin.

While there were no profound significant differences in efficacy between apixaban and both doses of dabigatran or rivaroxaban, dabigatran 150 mg twice-daily was superior to rivaroxaban for some efficacy endpoints, whereas major bleeding was significantly lower with dabigatran 110 mg twice-daily or apixaban. So found an indirect comparison analysis published in the Aug. 21 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, in which the authors acknowledged the results should not be over-interpreted.

With the increasing number of patients with multiple conditions, cardiologists now must factor in comorbidities in their treatment plans. But is simultaneous control of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels feasible? Not often and not easily, researchers reported online July 31 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

Pfizer has posted a decline in revenues for the second quarter of 2012,  which ended June 30. The company attributed the decline to the loss of the Lipitor patent and an unfavorable impact of foreign exchange. Declining costs in production, marketing and due to restructuring have led to a net income jump of 25 percent.

A study that compared endoscopic with open vein-graft harvesting in patients undergoing CABG surgery should close the lid on the controversy over the safety and durability of the less invasive approach. Weve answered the question for endoscopic vein harvesting, senior author Peter K. Smith, MD, told Cardiovascular Business. The ruling? The endoscopic approach was equally safe but had lower rates of wound complications.

Covidien has reported a single-digit increase in sales and operating income results for the third quarter of fiscal 2012, which ended June 30.

The FDA has approved Amarin's icosapent ethyl (Vascepa) capsules (formerly known as AMR101) as an adjunct to diet to reduce triglyceride levels in adult patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (triglyceride levels greater than or equal to 500mg/dL).