FDA Approves Vericiguat for Reducing Cardiovascular Death and Heart Failure
In late January, Merck announced that the FDA has approved Verquvo (vericiguat), the soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator to diminish the risk of cardiovascular death and heart-failure hospitalization following hospitalization for heart failure or need for outpatient IV diuretics in adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure and ejection fraction less than 45%. Read more. 

Statins Safe and Effective for Pediatric Patients
In a recent article in the Journal of Pediatric Health Care, researchers explored the effectiveness of statin therapy for lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C levels) in children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). Publication databases were searched through 2020 for articles in which the effect of statin therapy on lowering levels of LDL-C were reviewed in pediatric patients with FH. Read more. 

Trial Reveals ACEIs and ARBs Are Safe During Pandemic
Results from the first randomized trial to address the question of whether patients with COVID-19 should continue to take angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) or angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), were published online in JAMA. The findings do not support routinely discontinuing ACEIs or ARBs among patients hospitalized with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 when there is a treatment indication. Read more.