Dr. Elizabeth Swiggum
“A safety warning and a price tag are the same conversation. If a patient can’t afford the drug, the perfect prescription never reaches them — and the evidence has to be honest about both.”
A Practicing Cardiologist Reviewing Anticoagulant Content
Dr. Elizabeth Swiggum is a Canadian cardiologist and heart failure specialist practicing with Pulse Complete Cardiac Care in Victoria, British Columbia. From 2005 to 2024 she served as Medical Director of the Heart Function Clinic and Cardiac Rehabilitation program at Royal Jubilee Hospital, and she holds a clinical faculty appointment in cardiology at the University of British Columbia. Her clinical and policy work has consistently centred on access and equity — getting guideline-directed therapy to the patients who actually need it.
Dr. Swiggum earned her MD at Dalhousie University (1998), completed Internal Medicine and Cardiology residencies at the University of British Columbia, and finished a fellowship in Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, in 2005. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC) and a Fellow of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (FCCS). Beyond the clinic she has served as Board Chair of Doctors of BC, Medical Chair for Heart Failure and Chronic Cardiovascular Disease at Cardiac Services BC, and a Board Member of the Canadian Heart Failure Society.
As Medical Reviewer for SunnyPharma®, Dr. Swiggum evaluates patient-facing content on the oral anticoagulants Xarelto (rivaroxaban) and Eliquis (apixaban) against current FDA-approved prescribing information, peer-reviewed literature, and established cardiovascular and thrombosis guidelines. Her role is specifically to verify that information about these medications — their benefits, bleeding and stroke risk, contraindications, monitoring, drug interactions, cost, and access pathways — is clinically accurate before publication. She does not write SunnyPharma® articles — her function is independent review.
In heart failure and atrial fibrillation clinics I’ve watched patients ration an anticoagulant or stop it entirely because of cost — and an unmanaged clot or bleed is not a small thing. The pharmacology doesn’t bend for someone’s budget. What has to change is how clearly we tell people what their real, safe options are.
Peer-Reviewed Work & Guidelines
Dr. Swiggum is a contributor to Canadian Cardiovascular Society heart failure guideline work and appears as an author on cardiovascular publications indexed in PubMed. A representative selection:
Cardiovascular Leadership Roles
Dr. Swiggum’s national and provincial roles reflect a sustained focus on heart failure care and equitable access to cardiovascular treatment:
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Board Chair, Doctors of BC (2024–present)
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Medical Chair, Heart Failure & Chronic Cardiovascular Disease
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Board Member, Canadian Heart Failure Society
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Primary panel contributor, CCS Heart Failure & Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy guidelines
How Dr. Swiggum Reviews SunnyPharma® Content
Every article assigned for medical review is checked against three reference layers in sequence: (1) the current FDA-approved Prescribing Information for the anticoagulant in question — Xarelto (rivaroxaban) or Eliquis (apixaban); (2) the most recent guideline statements from the relevant authorities on stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation and the treatment of venous thromboembolism; and (3) recent peer-reviewed literature on real-world bleeding and stroke outcomes, particularly in cost-burdened populations. Where cost guidance and safety guidance could pull in different directions, safety is never softened to make an affordability option look simpler than it is.
Conflict of interest disclosure. Public disclosure records identify pharmaceutical and industry relationships for Dr. Swiggum. A 2024 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress disclosure listing records advisory board, consulting, speaker/honoraria, research grant, and clinical-trial relationships involving companies including Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer, and a 2023 GSK Canada transparency report records a payment to Dr. Swiggum. Several of these companies manufacture or co-market anticoagulants and cardiovascular medications, including products within her SunnyPharma® review scope. SunnyPharma® discloses these relationships on every page she reviews. Her SunnyPharma® review fee is fixed and paid regardless of the article’s conclusions; she is not compensated for referrals, traffic, sales, prescribing, or any user action.
Independence boundary. SunnyPharma® is an independent health education platform — not a pharmacy, not a seller, not affiliated with any manufacturer. Dr. Swiggum’s clinical practice in Victoria is entirely separate from her SunnyPharma® review work. No SunnyPharma® content is directed to patients under her direct clinical care.