Product Liability Lawyer Blog
According to a recent report from WebMD News, a recent study, which asserted both Xarelto and Pradaxa were superior to Warfarin, found that Xarelto poses a higher risk of serious internal bleeding disorders than its competitor, Pradaxa. The drugs at issue are part of a new class of anticoagulants known as New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). Xarelto, Pradaxa, Eliquis, and Savaysa are the four NOACs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The risk of increased internal bleeding disorders for patients taking Xarelto over patients taking Pradaxa was seen in patients who suffer from a serious medical condition known as atrial fibrillation (Afib). Afib, is characterized by an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve defect. If this sounds familiar to you even though you do not suffer from Afib, it might be because Saturday Night Live alumni actor Kevin Nealon appears in a commercial where he discusses his own struggles with Afib and how taking Xarelto has helped him to lead a normal life.
As discussed in the article, the reason most patients take Xarelto or Pradaxa is because they need to stop blood clots from forming. Traditionally, this was done with a blood thinning medication like Warfarin, but now they can take an anticoagulant. Regardless of the medication taken, the goal is to stop large clots from forming. If these clots form deep within the veins of the legs, it can cause a serious medical condition known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT). These DVT clots can then break loose from where they form and travel through a patient’s circulatory system. If they reach the lungs, they can puncture a hole in the tissue known a pulmonary embolism (PE), and PEs are often deadly. If the blood clots reach the brain, they can stop the flow of blood to the brain, which results in brain damage or death. This is known as a stroke and is one of the main reasons people will take Xarelto or Pradaxa or one of the other NOACs.
However, as you can discuss with your Boston Xarelto injury lawyer, if you are taking one of these drugs, you may start to experience a serious internal bleeding condition without warning. If you do have an internal bleeding condition while taking Xarelto, which can include intracranial bleeding, there is no reversal agent, which means there may be nothing doctors can due to stop the internal bleeding. As one doctor interviewed for this article has discussed, there is often no practical way to save these patients, and people have died when the internal bleeding could not be reversed. The reason it could not be reversed is because your body will bleed if it cannot clot at all, and if there is no way to reverse the effects of Xarelto in a reasonable amount of time, you will bleed to death or suffer other serous complications. While we use the term antidote because that is a term with which we are all familiar, doctors call it a reversal agent, since what is actually needed is a way to reverse the effects of Xarelto immediately, and doctors have no way of doing that.
If you are a victim Pradaxa and live in Massachusetts, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
Some Bleeding Risk Seen With Xarelto Vs. Pradaxa, October 3, 2016, By Steven Reinberg, WebMD News
More Blog Entries:
Risk for Internal Bleeding after Taking Pradaxa, August 22, 2014, Boston Dangerous Drugs Injury Lawyer Blog