A year after use of drug coated stents came under serious fire within the medical community, many physicians now say the medical community overreacted and should rethink their position.

Medical studies suggesting that drug-coated stents might be causing deadly blood clots elicited widespread alarm, as well as causing a precipitous sales decline for the companies that manufacture them. But after reviewing additional data compiled in the ensuing year, many doctors say drug-coated stents may not be so risky after all, at least compared with various alternatives.

Because the safety fears were so well publicized, the companies that make stents (Boston Scientific, Medtronic among them) do not necessarily anticipate a quick rebound. It's estimated that stent sales have suffered a $1 billion drop to approximately $5 billion in 2007. In the US, overall use of stents, either drug-coated ones or older bare-metal versions, have declined about 10 percent in the last year.
While fears about the safety of drug-coated stents was a major factor in the drop in sales, other studies showing encouraging results for patients just using drugs to treat heart conditions also contributed to the move away from stents.

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