WAXMAN ASKS BOSTON SCIENTIFIC, J&J FOR SAFETY INFORMATION ON STENTS

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has sent letters to Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) asking the firms for information on their drug-eluting stents.

Boston Scientific makes the Taxus paclitaxel-eluting stent and J&J's Cordis unit makes the Cypher sirolimus-eluting stent. Waxman's request is part of his committee's investigation into product safety and marketing practices.

Waxman's request comes after an FDA advisory panel in December 2006 examined the risk of blood clotting from drug-eluting stents and questioned whether off-label use of the devices, which accounts for an estimated 60 percent of the products' use, should be curtailed.

The letter to Boston Scientific can be viewed at oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070305175851-35298.pdf ( http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070305175851-35298.pdf ).

The letter to Cordis can be viewed at oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070305175920-17286.pdf ( http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20070305175920-17286.pdf ).