They may opt for a bare metal stent to prop up a second vessel, or substitute the more expensive anti-coagulants, such as Millennium Pharmaceuticals' (nasdaq: MLNM - news - people ) Integrilin, or Eli Lilly's (nyse: LLY - news - people ) ReoPro, with cheaper ones.
Heart stents, the tiny metal scaffolds used to prop open arteries, certainly could be subject to medical bean counters, as this front page Wall Street Journal story ably documents.
In 2004, the company hit multiyear highs as it became clear that it would dominate the field of drug-coated stents, coils of metal mesh that are used to prop open clogged arteries.