American College of Cardiology

Schedule Your August Recess Visit
The August congressional recess presents great opportunities for face-to-face meetings with members while they are home. It is critical that Congress and the administration hear first-hand from ACC members, their support staff and patients about the impact of the proposed Medicare reimbursement cuts. If you cannot schedule an office visit, you are strongly encouraged to phone or e-mail your legislators to point out the serious consequences of the 2010 CMS Proposed Rule. Patient materials and sample letters are available at www.acc.org/can.

Meanwhile, the ACC continues to meet with CMS staff, members of Congress and administration officials about the impact of the proposed CMS cuts on patients and practices. In the latest news, Reps. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX) and Mike Rogers (R-MI) have authored a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, expressing concerns about the proposed rule. ACC members are asked to contact their representative and urge him/her to sign on to this letter. More information is available by clicking here.

House Committee Passes Reform Bill; Imaging Amendment Not Offered …Yet
Late last week, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed its health care reform bill (H.R. 3200). The Weiner/Braley imaging amendment, which would eliminate the ability of physicians to provide MR, CT and PET imaging services in their offices beginning in 2013, was not included. However, the fight is not over. Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) is expected to hold a special session after the August recess to discuss H.R. 3200 and the more than 60 proposed amendments not heard before the break.

The ACC opposed this amendment in a joint letter with 23 other medical professional societies to Rep. Waxman, and is working hard to fight efforts to attach self referral provisions to health reform. ACC staff and leaders continue to meet regularly with members of Congress about the benefits of appropriate use criteria and clinical guidelines to ensure that the right tests are delivered at the right time to the right patients. The ACC also supports mandatory imaging laboratory accreditation to improve the quality of imaging.

Class I Recall of Abbott Catheter
Abbott and the Food and Drug Administration have issued a national Class 1 recall of four lots of POWERSAIL Coronary Dilatation Catheters after complaints that the distal shaft of the catheter exhibited damage. This damage could lead to catheter functional failures and clinical consequences, including air embolism and myocardial infarction. Customers with questions or concerns should call the company at 1-800-227-9902. Any adverse reactions experienced with the use of this product, and/or quality problems should also be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088. Read the complete MedWatch 2009 Safety summary.

FDA Approvals
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Onglyza (saxagliptin), a once-daily tablet to treat Type 2 diabetes in adults. The medication is intended to be used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar levels.

FDA also has approved United Therapeutics Corp.’s Tyvaso (treprostinil) to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. However, the FDA has asked the company to make the device more easy-to-use by Oct. 31, 20010 and to conduct a long-term observational study on the oropharyngeal and pulmonary toxicities among Tyvaso patients by Dec. 15, 2013.

In addition, the FDA has approved statin Livalo (pitavastatin), manufactured by Kowa Pharmaceuticals, as a first-line treatment for hypercholesterolemia and combined dyslipidemia. The drug will be available in three doses: 1, 2 and 4 mgs.

Registration Closing Soon! ACC’s 2009 Legislative Conference
August 14 is the registration deadline for ACC’s 2009 Legislative Conference, to be held Sept. 13 – 15 at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. Given the drastic payment cuts proposed by CMS, as well as efforts to pass overarching health reform legislation, don’t miss this opportunity to help educate Congress about the important work the ACC is doing in the areas of quality improvement and medical imaging. Even more importantly, you can help advocate for fair reimbursement and sound, unobtrusive policies that will ensure that cardiovascular professionals can continue to practice medicine in a manner that provides the greatest benefit for their patients. Click here to register now!

The Lewin Report: Member Reaction to the Proposed Payment Rule
Following a post from Vince Bufalino, M.D., F.A.C.C., on the effects of the Proposed 2010 Physician Fee Schedule on quality and access on ACC’s blog, The Lewin Report, several members wrote in to describe their reaction to the proposed rule. Their responses are varied but the message is the same: These cuts cannot go through. Quality cardiovascular is at stake. Leave your thoughts on the proposed cuts at: lewinreport.acc.org. Also, check out the ACC on other social media sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.