Over and over, studies have shown that doctors tend to make different clinical decisions for patients based on how much they will get paid personally. In 2007, we learned from the COURAGE trial that angioplasty and stents don’t reduce the risk of death or heart attack, but patients didn’t seem to get the memo. Only 1 percent realize there was no mortality or heart attack benefit. Perhaps because most cardiologists failed to happen to mention that little fact. One can imagine that if patients actually understood all they were getting was symptomatic relief that they’d be less likely to go under the knife. But then, ten years later, the ORBITA trial was published, showing even the promise of symptom relief was an illusion….