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Press Room : Press Releases

For Immediate Release: September 9, 2008

Top Doctors Urge Immediate Action to Prevent Deadly Blood Clots at Annual Meeting

Acting Surgeon General Rear Admiral Galson to Give Keynote Address

Members of the Venous Disease Coalition (VDC) and the Office of the Surgeon General will come together to urge immediate action to fight deadly blood clots known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on Sept. 15 at 9 a.m. at the VDC Annual Meeting at The Grand Hyatt Hotel, located at 1000 H St. N.W., in Washington, D.C. Acting Surgeon General Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H. will give a keynote address on DVT.

DVT is a deadly but often preventable disorder that occurs in an estimated 1 million Americans every year. The term refers to the formation of a blood clot in the deep veins, usually of the leg. DVT can be dangerous in two ways. First, DVT can be fatal if a blood clot breaks free and travels through the heart and into the lungs. This complication, called pulmonary embolism (PE), causes between 100,000 and 300,000 deaths per year in the United States alone. Second, because blood clots can permanently damage the veins, as many as half of DVT survivors can experience long-term leg pain, heaviness and swelling that can progress to difficulty walking, changes in skin color and open leg sores (known as ulcers). This condition, called post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS), can significantly impair a patient’s quality of life.

More than 100 top federal and academic doctors and other health care professionals, as well as members of governmental health agencies and professional organizations will attend this historic event.

Samuel Z. Goldhaber, M.D., VDC Chair and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, will moderate an afternoon panel discussion at which the Venous Disease Coalition will develop an action plan to increase public awareness and to educate healthcare professionals about DVT. Panelists will include:

Susan Kahn, M.D., of McGill University, a member of the VDC Science Committee, will present a featured lecture focusing on the long-term consequences of DVT. She will focus on post-thrombotic syndrome, which causes suffering and disability that affect many thousands of Americans.

The American Venous Forum, a member of the VDC, will host a free, on-site venous screening and DVT risk assessment for coalition members, media and guest speakers at the meeting between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. in the Arlington room at the Grand Hyatt.

“Every year, more people die from preventable blood clots than from breast cancer, AIDS and traffic accidents combined,” said Dr. Goldhaber, Chair of the VDC. “It is so important to raise awareness about DVT and PE because although blood clots are common, few Americans have sufficient knowledge about blood clots and how to prevent them.”

About the Venous Disease Coalition

The Venous Disease Coalition (VDC) is an alliance of more than 30 leading health professional societies and patient advocacy groups that have united around a common goal: To improve the survival rates and quality of life for individuals with, or at risk for, venous disease. The VDC plans to develop a national campaign to educate public and health care professionals in the United States about venous disease. The VDC is supported by unrestricted educational grants from AngioDynamics Inc., BioMedix, BSN Jobst, Cook Medical, Covidien, Eisai Inc., Juzo, sanofi-aventis and Vein Clinics of America. It is a program of the Vascular Disease Foundation. For more information, visit www.VenousDiseaseCoalition.org.

About the Vascular Disease Foundation

The Colorado-based Vascular Disease Foundation is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the sole purpose of educating the public about vascular disease. It is the most trusted source of credible, scientific and non-biased information on vascular disease. For more information, call (888) VDF-4INFO ((888) 833-4463) or visit www.vdf.org.

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