Stents studies laud three-drug cocktail

MINNEAPOLIS - Patients getting drug-coated stents to prop open their heart arteries are more likely to survive and less likely to have complications if their doctors prescribe a three-drug cocktail to ward off blood clots, researchers said. Five studies showed the addition of the generic drug cilostazol to standard therapy with aspirin and Plavix, from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Sanofi-Aventis SA, led to better results for the highest-risk patients. The drug is typically used to dilate blood vessels and ease cramping in patients with dangerous clots deep in their legs. Drug-coated stents are threaded into clogged arteries and expanded to improve blood flow in more than 1 million Americans each year. Research in recent years linked the tiny devices to deadly blood clots. Plavix and aspirin work to keep the platelets in the blood from clumping together, which causes the clots. Adding another medication may work even better, the researchers said. (Bloomberg News)

PETROLIA - About 2,500 people who fled when a corrosive liquid overflowed from a tank at a chemical plant and evaporated were allowed to return home yesterday after authorities determined that no toxins remained in the air. A material called oleum, similar to sulfuric acid, leaked from a tank at the Indspec Chemical Corp. plant on Saturday and evaporated into a toxic cloud, plant manager Dave Dorko said. All 30 employees of the plant in Petrolia, about 40 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, were evacuated and no injuries were reported, he said. Authorities went door to door to warn the 2,500 people living within 3 miles to evacuate. About 250 went to shelters in nearby Karns City, North Washington, and Bruin. Authorities were concerned about the potential for respiratory damage and skin burns, said Freda Tarbell, spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection. Authorities said three residents were taken to hospitals with apparent respiratory problems, but it was unclear whether the problems were related to the leak. (AP)

CHICAGO - The city's police superintendent is denying a news report that officers in his command are working the streets less aggressively out of fear of being second-guessed by him. Jody Weis told reporters Saturday that despite what some people may say, he sees officers who are well supported by their superiors and highly motivated. According to statistics provided by police and an internal document obtained by the Associated Press, serious crime is up but arrests are down in Chicago. Police have denied that any deliberate "slowdown" is taking place. But some members of the department have blamed low morale and fear of investigation by Weis. (AP)