Research that suggests prescription drugs are as good or better at preventing strokes than interventional procedures is prompting a range of leading doctors to recommend against carotid surgery and carotid stent implants in most patients who haven’t had stroke symptoms. The shift has broad implications for large medical-device makers, including Abbott Laboratories, ABT +0.53% Boston Scientific Corp., BSX +1.04% Johnson & Johnson JNJ +0.44% and Covidien Inc., COV -0.22% which all make carotid stents to open neck arteries. Some of the companies are pushing the federal Medicare program to widen stent coverage so it pays for routine carotid stent placement in people with no stroke symptoms. The move could greatly expand stent use because an estimated 100,000 or more patients would potentially be candidates for it.
