Man can skip heart surgery thanks to newly created medication

Bismarck, North Dakota – There are many dangers associated with heart surgery. Even while doctors consider all the advantages and disadvantages of an operation before recommending it to a patient, what if you could get the same benefits without having surgery?

Tim Reineke was diagnosed with a heart murmur issue almost twenty years ago. He was seeing his primary care physician regularly, and everything was going well until a year ago.

“Even going up the steps, I’d get halfway up, and I was getting winded. By the time I’d get up to the top, I’d have to sit and rest,” said Reineke.

The news was not good when he saw his doctor.

“I told him, ‘It bothers me once in a while,’ and he goes, ‘Well, we’ve got to take care of that, because otherwise you’re going to end up with me, having a heart attack,’” said Reineke.

Reineke’s left ventricle’s walls were found to be thicker and more rigid than normal during a diagnostic procedure. His heart was unable to pump blood freely because of the additional thickness, which made physical exertion more challenging.

The next course of action would normally be heart surgery, but Dr. Nayan Desai of Sanford’s interventional cardiology urged Reineke to try a novel medication designed especially for people with his illness.

“Camzyos, or Mavacamten, is a medicine which was approved by the FDA for people who have thick heart muscle, and it has made a big difference in terms of what we are able to offer patients without getting a scalpel in the chest,” said Dr. Desai.

“Once I started taking the medicine, after about a month, not even, I was starting to feel really good,” said Reineke.

After taking the drug for over a year, Reineke is in excellent health.

“It was all to Dr. Desai and his nurse, you know? They fought for it,” said Reineke.

According to Dr. Desai, he intends to continue prescribing this drug to patients such as Reineke.

Reineke’s prescription medication is expensive.

He stated he would have to pay $2,300 for a month’s supply if he didn’t have insurance or other assistance.

His pharmacist helps him pay, roughly $100 a month.