AACE Rejects Heart Groups’ Guidelines

Medpagetoday: Dec 16, 2013

The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists said it doesn’t endorse the latest lipid and obesity guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, recommending instead that its members refer to the society’s own guidance in these areas.

In a letter to its members, AACE questioned the scientific basis of the guidelines and said certain at-risk populations of patients will be underserved by them.

With regard to the lipid guideline, the group said its focus on large-scale randomized controlled trials is “highly restrictive” and leaves out much new information, leading to a “considerable number of at-risk patients being omitted from consideration.”

AACE also took issue with the controversial risk calculator, which has garnered much attention since the guidelines were released. The group said the calculator is based on “outmoded data, does not model the totality of the U.S. population, has not been validated, and therefore has only limited applicability.” Read More