Should Aspirin Be Used for Primary Prevention in the Post-Statin Era?

Between 1853 and 1897, German chemists learned to efficiently combine sodium salicylate with acetyl chloride to produce acetylsalicylic acid. That compound, trademarked as aspirin, proved to be a remarkable antiinflammatory and antithrombotic agent and one of the most widely used drugs in pharmaceutical history. As the medical community’s understanding of platelet biology and atherothrombosis evolved, it became clear that aspirin was highly...