The American Heart Association has denied that it is supporting the SHAPE-influenced Texas legislation that would mandate insurance company reimbursement for heart attack screening.

Earlier today, as reported in CardioBrief,  SHAPE issued a press release in which it quoted Dr. Morteza Naghavi, founder of SHAPE and Chairman of the SHAPE Task Force:

“We are also pleased to know that the American Heart Association has elected to support the bill as well. This is truly groundbreaking landmark legislation, much like the legislation for mammography,”

An AHA spokesperson told CardioBrief that the AHA has not altered its position, and that it can not support the Texas legislation without firmer scientific support. The SHAPE spokesperson told CardioBrief that the legislation had been endorsed by Joel Romo, the AHA’s regional vice-president for advocacy. But when we spoke with Romo this afternoon, he denied giving the endorsement. He told CardioBrief that he had told the Texas legislators that “I don’t know if we are there yet” and that without better scientific evidence the AHA would be unable “to put a card in favor” of the legislation (which is apparently Texas political lingo for endorsing a bill).

Stay tuned to CardioBrief for more developments.