What if you were a patient with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and your physician did not prescribe sacubitril–valsartan, a new drug that could prolong your life? Clinical trial data supported the drug's effectiveness, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expedited its approval, and U.S. guidelines recommended its use. Yet, you were stable while using several heart failure drugs, and the physician who saw you every 3 to 6 months never mentioned a newer medication, despite clinical trial data demonstrating mortality benefits of the drug in patients like you. You died suddenly one morning. Did your physician do ...
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Author, Article and Disclosure Information
From Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute and the Department of Medicine, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.
Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M16-1932.
Corresponding Author: Milton Packer, MD, Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, 621 North Hall Street, Dallas, TX 75226; e-mail, milton.
Current Author Addresses: Dr. Packer: Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute, Baylor University Medical Center, 621 North Hall Street, Dallas, TX 75226.
Drs. Armstrong, Rothstein, and Emmett: Baylor University Medical Center, 3500 Gaston Avenue, Dallas, TX 75246.
This article was published at www.annals.org on 30 August 2016.
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