60 percent of stroke patients treated with clot-retrieving stents were shown in a 2015 study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, to function independently after three months —compared to only 35 percent of patients having the same recovery timeframe when given drugs alone. However, these stents are rare outside of the approximately 150 specialized facilities in the U.S. that are known as “comprehensive stroke centers.” These centers require an in-house neurosurgery unit, minute-saving training, and the necessary space. So, although the hardware for the stent is relatively cheap, the procedure still is not available in many parts of the country.

“These treatments need to be available in the community, and access needs to be fair,” says Lee Schwamm, chief of stroke services at Massachusetts General Hospital and a professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. “We need them to be more equitably distributed. Many are packed in big cities, and there aren’t enough in suburban communities and strategic locations in less populated areas.” –Bloomberg.com

This is being called a miracle cure for strokes and not everyone in this country has access to it. Read the article published in Bloomberg for more – we’d love to hear your thoughts!