Deaths Linked to Cardiac Stents Rise as Overuse Seen

StentsReporters Peter Waldman, David Armstrong, and  Sydney P. Freedberg of Bloomsberg News published an extensive report on overuse of angioplasty today that I have known was coming for several months.  Our fair state of Kentucky figures large in their expose of angioplasty abuse nationwide.  The article illuminates the reasons why this fee-for-service industry is out of control.  You will not be happy when you read it.

The profound shame is that this same scenario plays out for many other medical services in many other settings and with many other providers. Until we have a system that can deal with the misplaced incentives built into our healthcare system, we will never get a handle on the run-away health costs for services of lesser quality than we all deserve.  The medical-industrial-governmental complex has not be able to deal with this issue by itself.  It needs the knowledgeable cooperation of the public who pays for the whole thing!

Read KHPI’s coverage of this matter over the last year by clicking the “Angioplasty Abuse” link below.  This scandal is far from over, in Kentucky or the nation.

Peter Hasselbacher, MD
President, KHPI
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, UofL
September 26, 2013