Docs assess how best to treat opioid addicts for endocarditis

Katherine Davis | | Cardiovascular Business | Patient Care

Many people who abuse opioids end up developing endocarditis—but physicians are considering alternative methods to treating these kinds of patients, because many of them continue to abuse drugs and many die earlier .

The trend was explored in a new feature published by NPR March 21.

Jonathan Eddinger, MD, a cardiologist at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, has been tracking patients addicted to opioids, trying to determine if they have died from endocarditis post treatment.

To do so, he’s using the internet, looking for online obituaries and clues on social media. He has found that 25 percent of the hospital’s patients treated for the condition had died after leaving the hospital.

To read the full story, follow the link below:

Doctors Consider Ethics Of Costly Heart Surgery For People Addicted To Opioids

Katherine Davis,

Senior Writer

As a Senior Writer for TriMed Media Group, Katherine primarily focuses on producing news stories, Q&As and features for Cardiovascular Business. She reports on several facets of the cardiology industry, including emerging technology, new clinical trials and findings, and quality initiatives among providers. She is based out of TriMed's Chicago office and holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has appeared in Modern Healthcare, Crain's Chicago Business and The Detroit News. She joined TriMed in 2016.

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