Drug-Coated Stents May be Losing Favor

After a three-year run in which drug-coated stents grew into one of the most profitable, fastest-selling medical devices in history, doctors now appear to be using fewer of them -- a change that could hurt local life-science giant Boston Scientific Corp.

As more evidence emerges that suggests drug-coated stents have caused higher rates of blood clots than the older generation of bare-metal stents, doctors at many hospitals have recently begun shifting toward the older, bare-metal stents they replaced, according to figures provided yesterday to the Globe by Goodroe Healthcare Solutions LLC.