Intense grief, such as what’s felt at the death of a spouse, can increase a person’s risk of developing cardiac problems that lead to death, according to a new article by two prominent Cleveland Clinic cardiologists.The article — “Can you really die of a broken heart?” — appears in Psychology Today and was penned by [...]

Two of the Cleveland Clinic‘s greatest doctors ever, Eric Topol and Steven Nissen, have carved out contrasting views on one of the hottest topics in healthcare: personalized medicine.The preeminent cardiologists’ opposing viewpoints recently came to light after Nissen, currently the Clinic’s chair of cardiovascular medicine, penned an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical [...]

Cleveland Clinic’s 2012 Medical Innovation Summit, this year dedicated to cardiovascular technology, has come and gone.But it’s worth taking a look back at a few observations and insights gleaned from the ninth annual summit — and asking a couple questions.The view from the top is a lot different than the view from the bottom: Given [...]

Dr. Steven Nissen, chair of Cleveland Clinic’s cardiovascular medicine department, talks about why head-to-head clinical trials of competing drugs and devices would benefit patients.“In medicine, we have many alternative therapies for patients,” he said. “What we need to know to take good care of our patients is which of these therapies is best.”Nissen spoke at [...]

On Thursday, MedCity News’ Brandon Glenn floated the idea of Cleveland Clinic’s Steven Nissen replacing US Food & Drug Administration Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, who left to head Maryland’s health department. Immediate reaction to the idea through social media was subdued.

FDA Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein’s departure may be an olive branch to newly empowered Congressional Republicans. Replacing him with Cleveland Clinic’s Steven Nissen would signal the exact opposite from President Obama. A Nissen nomination would symbolically show that Obama won’t back down from a fight with Republicans — and perhaps temporarily quiet a liberal base that sees him as at best too willing to cave to the GOP and at worst weak, ineffectual and just another opportunistic politician without any strong core beliefs.

Ann Arbor, Michigan, biopharmaceutical company Cerenis Therapeutics added $13.9 million to a July investment round that it will use to continue clinical trials of a drug to treat heart disease. Cerenis will use its latest investment to do Phase II clinical trial development of CER-001, which mimics high-density lipid (“good”) cholesterol and can rapidly reverse atherosclerotic plaque.

What does Cleveland Clinic cardiologist (and Avandia whistleblower) Steven Nissen have to say about Thursday’s Food and Drug Administration decision to allow diabetes drug Avandia to stay on the market with significant restrictions? “I think it’s a reasonable course of action and compromise. It will limit 99 percent of its use,” Nissen told the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

Swiss drugmaker Novartis just got Food and Drug Administration approval to sell the first pill that can slow the progression of multiple sclerosis. Gilenya will go head-to-head with injectable medicines, including Avonex, Tysabri and Rebif. But how much will the MS pill cost? Novartis won’t say, NPR reports.

The British Medical Journal today raised more questions about whether diabetes drug Avandia should ever have been approved for patients in the United States and Europe, and whether the drug “may be about to fold.”