March 14, 2006: Non-Profit Study on Blood Filtering Device Partially Funded and Designed by Manufacturer

Dr. Maria Rosa Costanzo presents the findings of a study on the effectiveness of a $14,000 blood filtering device manufactured by Minnesota-based CHF Solutions. The study—performed by Midwest Heart Foundation, but designed with the help of CHF Solutions—concluded that the device does a better job of removing excess fluid from patients with heart failure than intravenous diuretic drugs. Costanzo does not disclose to her audience that CHF Solutions is one of Midwest Heart Foundation’s largest donors—contributing about $180,000 in 2004. She does say that she is a paid consultant of the company and a stockholder. Some doctors criticize the study, noting that subjects of the study may not have taken enough medicine to provide meaningful comparisons. [New York Times, 6/28/2006] Cardiologist Dr. JoAnn Lindenfeld, for example, tells Heartwire, “I wouldn’t view these data as persuasive enough to use it full-scale in a million patients a year with acute decompensated heart failure.” [HeartWire, 3/15/2006]