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Boehringer Ingelheim is being showered with several lawsuits related to side effects of its blood-thinning drug Pradaxa. Pradaxa was approved for prevention of strokes in patients of arterial fibrillation on October 19th 2010. Artrial fibrillation is a health condition in which there are very fast and uncoordinated contractions of the upper heart chambers. It is one of the most common heart ailments. Patients with arterial fibrillation have a higher risk of developing blood clots, thus Pradaxa is useful for them. Pradaxa is an anticoagulant drug. It contains Dabigatran as its main active ingredient. It belongs to an anticoagulant group of drugs called direct thrombin inhibitor. It prevents clotting in the blood. The safety and efficacy of Pradaxa was found higher than another anticoagulant Warfarin in a clinical trial. Patients who used Pradaxa are at lower risk of strokes compared to patients taking Warfarin, which is another blood thinning drug. Later Pradaxa was linked to excessive and unstoppable bleeding. New reports by FDA have linked Pradaxa with risk of hemorrhages. The reports indicate that Pradaxa, being a blood thinner, makes bleeding easier, thus any minor cut or injury increases risk of heavy bleeding, while using Pradaxa. One fact making the situation worse is that there is no antidote to reverse the side effect of bleeding that occurs due to Pradaxa. This medicine has been linked with unusual and unexplained bleeding in various part of body too. It could also lead to internal bleeding. Some studies also suggest that use of Pradaxa increases risk of heart attack or other heart complication by 33% in the patients compared to other drugs. Different lawsuits related to Pradaxa are based on various side effects such as internal bleeding, stroke and heart attack. Pradaxa Internal Bleeding Lawsuits Around 300 adverse events were reported against Pradaxa in first three months after its launch. Around 250 deaths have also been reported due to internal bleeding due to use of Pradaxa. As Pradaxa makes bleeding easy, it increases risk of internal bleeding. Most of the Pradaxa lawsuits are related to internal bleeding. These lawsuits blame Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Ltd. that it used flawed clinical trials to get approval for Pradaxa for prevention of blood clots in patients of Artrial Fibrillation. These lawsuits also blame the pharmaceutical company for not doing enough research and risking life of patients. Risk of bleeding due to use of Pradaxa is higher as there is no reversing agent to undo the side effects of Pradaxa. Pradaxa Brain Hemorrhage Lawsuit Pradaxa is also being linked with brain hemorrhage. A recent case of an elderly patient has indicated that use of Pradaxa could also cause brain hemorrhage. He had a minor fall and a minor injury in brain. He was prescribed with Pradaxa as a blood thinner. The patient suffered an extreme hemorrhage six hours after having Pradaxa. There is no antidote to reverse bleeding due to Pradaxa, thus went into coma and ultimately died due to extreme bleeding in brain. Bleeding due to other blood thinner could be checked by a dose of Vitamin K, but it is not so with Pradaxa bleeding. There are other such cases and there may be many brain hemorrhage lawsuits against Pradaxa in near future. Pradaxa Stroke Lawsuits Some patients have suffered hemorrhagic strokes due to use of Pradaxa. Pradaxa is used to prevent an ischemic stroke, which is caused by clots in the blood traveling to the brain. But use of Pradaxa has caused hemorrhagic strokes, which is opposite to the ischemic strokes. These strokes have made base for many Pradaxa stroke lawsuits. More such cases are in offing. Pradaxa Heart Attack Lawsuits Different studies have revealed that the risk of heart attack or acute coronary syndrome increases in patients using Pradaxa. They compared it with various control treatments including Warfarin, and other placebo. Acute coronary syndrome occurs due to the rupture of a plaque in a heart artery. The study concluded that risk of heart attack or acute coronary syndrome in patients on Pradaxa increases 0.25% per year. Use of Pradaxa increases risk of heart attack or other heart complication by 33% in the patients compared to other drugs. Thus there may be many Pradaxa heart attack lawsuits filed in near future. For More Information Visit: http://www.unsafedrugs.com/3868/boehringer-ingelheim-showered-pradaxa-lawsuits
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Boehringer Ingelheim, Pradaxa, Dabigatran, thrombin inhibitor,
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