Eliquis Maker Claims it is Safer than Xarelto in Terms of Major Bleeding Rates

Eliquis, manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Pfizer, is now claiming its new oral anticoagulant (NOAC) is safer than other NOACs (Xarelto, Pradaxa, and Savaysa), according to a recent news article from Medpage Today.

untitled-1238929-mBased upon a recent study, paid for by BMS and Pfizer, their drug, Eliquis, was shown to cause less major bleeding cases in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (Afib) that patients taking Pradaxa, or Xarelto. Savaysa was not specifically included in this study because the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only recently approved it for sale on the market.

As our Boston Eliquis injury lawyers can explain, by major bleeding, the drug company means that a patient taking their drug began to experience severe internal bleeding, including possibly intracranial bleeding, as result of the drug. When the patients became aware of this potentially deadly disease, they were taken to emergency rooms across the country, where there was nothing doctors could do to stop or reverse the condition, because there is no treatment currently approved by the FDA. For this reason, of the thousands who have become sick, many have died from taking one of these new oral anticoagulant medications.

It should be noted, there is currently a reversal agent that shows promise of working as an antidote for some or all of these four NOACs, but it is still in the experimental stages, and FDA has not yet approved the antidote for market. There is, however, a good chance the approval will be fast-tracked because there is currently no other treatment on the market for people suffering from major bleeding events. Even a potentially dangerous drug may be permitted to be administered through what is known as compassionate use.   A compassionate use is also an exception to the approval process, where doctors may be able to use a drug still in trial phases of development, because the only alternative is to let the patient die.

With respect to this new Eliquis study, the drug companies making it claim a patient with Afib taking Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is 34 percent more likely to develop a major bleeding disorder than a patient taking Eliquis. The risk of a “clinically relevant non-major bleeding” was 39 percent more likely with Xarelto over Eliquis. Based upon their definition, a not major bleed would be some type of internal bleeding condition requiring a patient to seek prompt medical attention, but it would not result in a patients death. It is interesting to see that none of the drug companies are able to claim their respective drug wont kill you, nor are they saying they have identified the risk factors, so people at higher risk could avoid taking the drugs. In other words, they are telling patients they are basically playing a game of Russian roulette, but their drug is less likely to result in death than the other companies’ drugs.

This at least tacit willingness to admit these drugs are causing major bleeding events should be helpful in a defective drug case for those where inured by taking on of these NOACs.

If you are the victim of illness due to taking Eliquis, call Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers for a free and confidential appointment — (617) 777-7777.

Additional Resources:

ESC: Eliquis Tied to Less Bleeding in Afib Versus Other NOACs, September 2, 2015, Medpage Today, by Ed Susman

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