Primary care clinicians should be the first to prescribe SGLT2 inhibitors for many reasons, as explained by Prof Jonathan McMurray in this Patient Care interview.
SGLT2 inhibitors in a series of landmark trials have shown significant benefits in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and in patients with chronic kidney disease - regardless of the presence of diabetes in either population. So, which specialty should be considered "primary" for prescribing the drugs: Cardiologists? Endocrinologists? Nephrologists? Primary care?
University of Glasgow cardiologist and lead investigator of the DAPA-CKD study of dapagliflozin is clear on the answer. He makes a "special plea for primary care physicians" as first-line prescribers. He explains his thinking in this short interview.