Longer use of blood-thinning medications may benefit heart patients who have had a stent implanted.

The Wall Street Journal (11/17, Winslow, Subscription Publication) reports that research presented at an American Heart Association meeting and published online in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that longer use of blood-thinning medications may be beneficial in heart patients who have had a stent implanted.

        Forbes (11/17) contributor Larry Husten writes that “after receiving a drug-eluting stent and one year of treatment with a thienopyridine and aspirin, 9,961 patients were randomized to 18 additional months of treatment with a thienopyridine or placebo.” Meanwhile, “both groups continued to take aspirin.”

        The AP (11/17, Marchione) reports that the researchers found that approximately “6 percent of those taking only aspirin suffered a heart attack, clot or other heart-related problem during that time versus about 4 percent of those taking a second drug.” The AP adds, “The FDA says it is mulling the results an