FDA Teams With National Forum to Reduce Deaths from Heart Disease: Program is first of its kind

In the U.S., only about 1 in every 4 prescriptions is taken as directed by a health care provider – a problem that costs our nation more than 125,000 lives a year. Millions of Americans with  heart disease – the nation’s No. 1 killer – are especially vulnerable.

To stem that tide, FDA has teamed with the nonprofit National Forum for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention to advance the cause of a heart-healthy and stroke-free society.

FDA’s Office of Health and Constituent Affairs has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Forum to promote and increase the use of health knowledge, skills and practices by the public in their daily lives. The five-year agreement is a first-of-its-kind cooperative public education program to reduce the burdens of heart disease and stroke.

Heart disease, which kills 1 in 4 Americans, can be managed. To prevent heart attacks, transient ischemic attacks and other cardiac events, doctors prescribe medications and lifestyle therapies (e.g. heart-healthy diets). Because medication is not readily adhered to – and neither are lifestyle treatments – millions of people suffer from preventable cardiac episodes. As a nation, lack of medication adherence (which can be as simple as not getting a prescription filled or refilled) costs more than $100 billion annually in excess hospitalizations.

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