Now this is a clever study –Not Filling CV Prescriptions Post-AMI Associated With Reduced One-Year Survival

People recovering from an AMI who fill none or just some of their prescriptions after leaving the hospital are more likely to be dead within a year than people who fill all their CV prescriptions after hospital discharge. That’s the upshot of a new study from Ontario that reviewed one-year survival among more than 4500 post-AMI patients–all of them seniors eligible for full prescription drug coverage under the provincial health plan with a minimal copayment ranging from $2 to $6 per prescription [1].

According to lead author Dr Cynthia A Jackevicius (University of Toronto, ON), other research has addressed whether MI survivors continue to take their meds long term, whereas her study is one of the first to look specifically at outcomes related to whether AMI patients promptly fill their CV drug prescriptions after leaving the hospital. “Many of their medications may have been started in the hospital, and if patients didn’t fill them when they left, they may have a withdrawal affect,” Jackevicius told heartwire. “Or, if they were just starting them after leaving the hospital, we know that a lot of the bad things that happen to people, such as having another heart attack or dying, happen quite soon after they’ve had that first heart attack. So the timing is important.”

Since this is a Canadian study, cost was less likely to have been a contributing factor to the lack of medicines.  I wonder if some physicians do a better job of explaining the importance of the meds.  Perhaps some patients just rebel against taking meds.

This finding makes sense.  We have great data on the effectiveness of ASA, statins, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors for post-MI patients.

Obviously, we need studies which help us understand why some patients take the meds and some do not.