Pill blending 6 drugs said to prevent heart attacks. Misgivings, sometimes vehement, are emerging within the medical community to this novel concept about which I posted below. Sentiments expressed include:

• It “might be dangerous for healthy people and not strong enough for those with heart trouble”
• “It also could also lull some people into persisting with life-threatening habits”. (This one doesn’t hold water. With an aging population, much of modern medicine is devoted to protecting people against chronic problems which have a lifestyle aspect. Should we treat no one until they stop smoking, drinking, lose weight, begin exercising, reform their dietary approach, treat their domestic partners better?)
• “the people you save by preventing heart disease and stroke (by giving aspirin to the general population) is offset by the number of people you kill by causing bleeding”. Although I haven’t researched the matter recently (and medical thinking goes through fads and fancies just as any other discipline), it is my impression that this opinion is not borne out by public health research suggesting the routine use of aspirin is valuable.
• “the “one-size-fits-all” idea runs counter to the way medicine is headed in the future, which is toward personalized medication based on an individual’s genetic profile”

Fresno Bee