A trio of studies presented at the Heart Rhythm Society’s 40th annual scientific sessions earlier this month highlight significant disparities in patient access to implantable cardiac devices—particularly in women and black patients.

More than one-third of statin patients still fail to reach healthy LDL-cholesterol levels a year and a half after initiating treatment, leaving them vulnerable to adverse CV events and thousands of dollars in medical bills, according to a report in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy.

A dietary supplement commonly used to relieve osteoarthritis and joint pain may also double as a cardioprotector, Tulane University researchers reported in The BMJ May 14.

The FDA is updating azithromycin drug labels to reflect evidence that the medication can contribute to a rare heart rhythm abnormality known as torsades de pointes.

Drugmaker Zydus Cadila on May 13 announced it had received final approval from the FDA to market chlorthalidone tablets, the generic equivalent of Pfizer’s now-discontinued hypertension drug Thalitone.

Low-dose daily aspirin may be effective as a preventive therapy for heart patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic disease, but in the general population the drug’s risk of intracranial bleeding outweighs any CV benefits it may have, according to a study published May 13 in JAMA Neurology.

CVD-related fatalities in individuals under 75 years old are on the rise in the U.K. for the first time in five decades, the Guardian reported May 12.

The Heart Rhythm Society issued a first-ever consensus statement on the evaluation, risk stratification and management of arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy at its annual conference in San Francisco this spring.