§ Mr. MartlewTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on the regular use of aspirin to tackle heart disease; and if he will make a statement. [115732]
§ Ms BlearsThe national service framework, based on the advice of an expert group of clinicians, stated that patients at high risk of heart disease or heart attack should take a low dose of aspirin every day, unless other medical considerations made this inadvisable.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence is considering clopidogrel in combination with aspirin in the treatment of non ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes. The outcome of this work is not expected until 2004.