Product Liability Lawyer Blog
Patients who suffer from a serious medical condition must take a blood thinner or anticlotting agent to prevent the formation of blood clots that can be deadly. Patients who suffer from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and various other conditions need to take these medications to prevent potentially deadly medical conditions from occurring.
Blood clotting is an important bodily function. It is a reaction in the body to stop bleeding. This can be from internal bleeding or external bleeding, such as when a person gets a cut on his or finger. People who suffer hemophilia do not clot normally, and this is why even a small cut can lead to serious blood loss.
While clotting can be helpful, and often is, as our Boston Pradaxa injury attorneys can explain, blood clots can also be deadly if they occur in veins when there is no bleeding to be stopped. If the clots form in the veins of the legs, they travel through the circulatory system to the lungs and can actually puncture a whole in the lungs. This is known as a pulmonary embolism (PE), and many patients die each year from a PE. The clot can also firm in the veins leading to the brain. This will cut off blood flow to the brain, which, in turn, will deprive the brain of oxygen, causing braining damage.
The problem with these new medications, including Pradaxa, Xarelto, Eliquis, and Savaysa, is that they can cause internal bleeding in addition to just stopping the formation of clots. Unlike the case with Warfarin (Coumadin), which has been the standard treatment for atrial fibrillation (Afib), there was no way to reverse the reaction. In other words, there was no antidote for Pradaxa. Technically, there is now, but Praxbind, as it is called, had not been approved for the other New Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs).
This means that when a patient suffered a serious internal bleeding disorder and came into the emergency room, there was nothing doctors could do to stop the bleeding. There was also a problem when a patient on Pradaxa needed to have surgery, and it was essential that the patient be allowed to clot following the surgery.
According to a recent news feature from Drug Discovery and Development, researchers now believe there may be effective reversal that involves the use of a bio-engineered molecule. The development and study of this molecule that is designed to inhibit the Xa clotting factor in the new class of drugs was developed at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), which is considered one of the finest pediatric hospitals in the world. As of now the new Xa factor inhibitor has been tested in computational models and small animals such as rats and mice, but researchers say they are ready to take their trials to the next level and test it large animals.
If the large animal tests go well, and it proves the new molecule to both safe and effective, the university can apply for approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to test the drug in clinical trails on human patients, though that process may take some time.
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:
Bio-engineered Molecule Shows Promise for Quick Control of Bleeding, July 26, 2016, By Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
More Blog Entries:
Risk for Internal Bleeding after Taking Pradaxa, August 22, 2014, Boston Dangerous Drugs Injury Lawyer Blog