Here’s a great article at the NYT that looks at fish oil, the evidence of its usefulness for post-MI therapeutics, and the way doctors in Europe and in the US prescribe it.
Money quote:
Every patient in the cardiac care unit at the San Filippo Neri Hospital who survives a heart attack goes home with a prescription for purified fish oil, or omega-3 fatty acids.
“It is clearly recommended in international guidelines,” said Dr. Massimo Santini, the hospital’s chief of cardiology, who added that it would be considered tantamount to malpractice in Italy to omit the drug.