In 2016, consumers and clinicians will embrace technology to create a more connected healthcare system, according to a forward-looking report from the PwC Health Research Institute (HRI).

Adults between 40 and 75 years old who are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease may benefit from statins, according to a U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) systematic review.

In 2015, the FDA approved numerous cardiovascular medications and devices, providing clinicians with new treatment options. Still, the prices of the treatments received scrutiny as the federal government and private insurers began paying closer attention to value and whether the benefits outweigh the costs.

Harold Persaud, MD, a cardiologist from Ohio, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Dec. 18 for overbilling Medicare and private insurance companies by $29 million between 2006 and 2012. The Department of Justice announced the sentence on Dec. 18.

Australian heart researcher Anna A. Ahimastos, PhD, recently had her seventh major paper retracted, Retraction Watch reports. The paper, which was published in 2005 in Circulation, was retracted after all of the researchers except for Ahimastos found “inadequate validation of primary data sources and data misrepresentation.” 

From 2003 to 2013, death rates attributed to cardiovascular disease declined 28.8 percent, according to the American Heart Association's annual Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update released on Dec. 16. However, cardiovascular disease still accounted for 30.8 percent of all deaths in the U.S. in 2013 and remained the leading cause of death in the U.S.

The FDA announced on Dec. 16 that it would eliminate the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) labeling on type 2 diabetes medications that contain rosiglitazone.

Cardiac Dimensions, a privately held medical device company, hired Gregory D. Casciaro as its CEO and President on Dec. 15.